Martin Joseph O’Malley is an American politician and the 61st Governor of Maryland. First elected in 2006, he defeated incumbent Governor Robert Ehrlich, and again in a 2010 rematch. Prior to being elected as Governor, he served as the Mayor of Baltimore from 1999 to 2007, having previously served as a Baltimore City Councilor from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the Chair of the Democratic Governors Association from 2011 to 2013.
As Mayor, he focused his attention on public safety, and by implementing crime response reform, violent crimes in Baltimore were reduced by nearly 40%. As Governor, in 2011 he signed a law that would make certain undocumented immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition on condition; and in 2012, he signed a law to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland. Each law was challenged to a voter referendum in the 2012 general election and upheld by a majority of the voting public.