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Maryland Election Results 2012: Cardin reelected to Senate easily; gay-marriage question passes; Obama wins handily

November 7, 2012 at 3:49 a.m. EST

Here is a summary of the election results in Maryland: (View full map)

President

Obama easily defeated Mitt Romney in the Free State, according to the Associated Press, helped by the presence of a higher proportion of African American voters than in any state outside the Deep South and the state’s relative economic strength. Maryland’s unemployment rate — 6.9 percent in September — bested the national average of 7.9 percent in October.

Senate

Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) trounced Republican Daniel Bongino, a former Secret Service Agent, and businessman Rob Sobhani, an independent who spent millions on his own campaign.

House

Seven of Maryland’s eight incumbents (six Democrats and one Republican) were reelected. But Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R), an octogenarian former inventor who was first elected in 1992, was defeated by financier John Delaney (D) after Democrats redrew Bartlett’s district, according to the Associated Press.

Referendum — Gay Marriage

Until this election, gay marriage had been defeated more than 30 times when put to voters around the country. But Maryland bucked that trend, voting to allow gay and lesbian couples to obtain civil marriage licenses. The state legislature passed a bill making the change earlier this year, and Governor Martin O’Malley signed it. But opponents successfully petitioned to put the issue before voters, who offered their endorsement Tuesday. The issue shook up usual alliances in the liberal-leaning state, with African American Democrats much less likely than white Democrats to offer support, according to a Washington Post poll.

More from PostPolitics:

- For full coverage of Election Night breaking news, including reporting from swing states around the country, follow The Post's Election 2012 liveblog.

- The Grid aggregates the best multimedia, and commentary from across the social web in a clean, simple display.

- Updated election results on a county-by-county basis are available on the The Post's election day map. Sort through the Senate, House, Gubernatorial, and Presidential election results.