By MATT COHEN
Capital News Service
URBANA, Md. — Still early and chilly on Election Day morning, Ivana Martin waited at a picnic table in her navy blue pajama pants and tan UGG slippers for her mother to finish bubbling in her ballot. Martin was the first one out of the polling center at the Urbana Regional Library on Tuesday.
At 18 years old, this was Martin’s first vote.
“I was excited to vote for a woman,” Martin said of her first ballot. “It’s exciting.”
Martin lives near the library in the 6th Congressional District — which has the most hotly contested House race in Maryland, in a state known as a Democratic stronghold. The congressional tract includes parts of Montgomery County as well as all of Allegany, Frederick, Washington and Garrett counties — encompassing the entirety of western Maryland.
In addition to the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democrat, and former President Donald Trump, the Republican, and the U.S. Senate race between Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, the Democrat, and former Gov. Larry Hogan, the Republican, voters here are choosing between Democrat April McLain Delaney and Republican Neil Parrott for the district’s House seat, which will be vacated in January by Democratic Rep. David Trone. Trone lost to Alsobrooks in the Senate primary.
An independent poll conducted by Gonzales Research and Marketing Strategies showed Parrott as a two-point favorite over Delaney in its final poll, conducted in August.
Martin said she arrived at the library between 6:15 and 6:30 a.m., long before the polls opened at 7. She wanted to get done, quick and easy.
She wasn’t the only one excited to vote for a woman.
While Martin waited, her mother, Teresa Llines, 60, completed her ballot. The Urbana resident had waited in line since about 6:30, after her alarm had awakened her two hours earlier. Llines works in Bethesda, she said, and wanted to get her vote out of the way before making her trek down Interstate 270.
Llines said what excited her most about voting Tuesday was the idea of pushing for change. She said she thought about her daughter and her future grandchildren. She said she wanted them to have a future to be excited about. Women’s rights, including the topic of abortion, were the most important issues to Llines in this election, she said.
And the chance for an all-female ticket for the federal offices — Harris, Alsobrooks and Delaney — excited her.
“Women’s voices need to be heard,” Llines said. “We have a lot of women leadership that I think would do a lot of good for our country and for our state. … To help in making positive change for our country and our state.”
Then Llines walked back to her car to drive to Bethesda, coffee in hand. She had a slice of the banana bread waiting for her.
