How Hyattsville Voted 2012

Would it surprise you to learn that voters in the Hyattsville area heavily favored the Democratic Party in the 2012 general election?

President Barack Obama, Senator Ben Cardin (D-Maryland) and Representatives Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) and Donna Edwards (D-Maryland) all received the lions share of votes cast by Hyattsville residents in precincts 16-002 at the Hyattsville Municipal Building, 16-003 at the Hyattsville Middle School, 16-004 at Nicholas Orem Middle School, 17-006 at Cesar Chavez Elementary School and 17-008 at the Hyattsville Public Library. Those four precincts are either entirely or partly inside Hyattsville's municipal borders (the borders of precincts 17-006 and 17-008 spillover into Mount Rainier and Chillum).

More than 86 percent of Hyattsville area voters cast their ballot for Obama, with only 11 percent voting for Mitt Romney. Local voters cast nearly 80 percent of their ballots for Cardin, more than 88 percent of their ballots for Edwards, and 81 percent of their ballots for Hoyer.

And though the margins were significantly tighter than in the presidential, congressional and Senate races,  Hyattsville voted solidly in favor of the two perhaps most controversial statewide referendum questions on same sex marriage and expanded gambling.

Hyattsville area residents approved both Question 6, which legalized same-sex marriage in Maryland, and Question 7, which legalized table games at existing Maryland casinos and sets the stage for a new casino to locate in Prince George's County, by nearly identical 61 to 39 percent margins.