Martin Joseph O'Malley (born January 18, 1963) was the 61st Governor of Maryland, from 2007 to 2015, and is running for President of the United States in the 2016 election. Prior to being elected as Governor, he served as the Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007 and was a Baltimore City Councilor from 1991 to 1999.
O'Malley served as the Chair of the Democratic Governors Association from 2011 to 2013, while serving as governor of Maryland. Following his departure from public office in early 2015, he was appointed to the Johns Hopkins University's Carey Business School as a visiting professor focusing on government, business, and urban issues.
As Governor, in 2011, he signed a law that would make illegal immigrants brought to the United States as children eligible for in-state college tuition, and in 2012, he signed a law to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland. Each law was put to a voter referendum in the 2012 general election and upheld by a majority of the voting public.
O'Malley publicly announced his candidacy in the 2016 presidential election on May 30, 2015, in Baltimore, Maryland, and filed his candidacy form seeking the Democratic Party nomination with the Federal Election Commission on May 29, 2015.
Governor O'Malley supports most actions made by President Obama, praising the Affordable Care Act. He wishes to use government to help working class citizens. He advocates for the expansion of Social Security to allow seniors to "retire with dignity". One of the biggest parts of his campaign has been to advocate for a move to an fully renewable energy grid by the year 2050. He has also focused on revitalizing American cities.
Governor O'Malley has expressed more focus on how the US can fight the battles it faces at home as opposed to those abroad. He has endorsed the Iran Deal as a way to begin to "wage peace". He believes in free trade, but has come short of full endorsement of the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He opposes trade agreements being negotiated in secret.
Governor O'Malley has not advocated for an increase or decrease in military spending. He focuses on how to improve military intelligence, specifically human and networked intelligence. He believes in making public service an option for all young people to begin their careers or to pay for college.
Governor O'Malley supports a path to legal status for those here illegally, and comprehensive legal immigration reform as well, saying that the "symbol of America is the Statue of Liberty, not a barbed wire fence".
See Martin O'Malley's Stance on All The Issues »
