NATIONAL ELECTION RETURNS : State-by-State Election Reports of Key Races and Issues : Maryland
BALTIMORE — George Bush held a lead in the race for Maryland’s 10 electoral votes and the state’s voters were handing the gun lobby a setback in a referendum on “Saturday night specials.”
With 44% of the precincts reporting, Bush had 56% of the vote to 44% for Michael S. Dukakis.
And 66% of Maryland voters were rejecting a measure to repeal a 6-month-old state law effectively banning cheap handguns. The National Rifle Assn. had poured more than $4 million into a media campaign to repeal it.
Both sides said the outcome in Maryland could affect the future of gun control efforts nationally.
Michael Beard of the National Coalition to Ban Handguns called the referendum “the most significant vote in the last five to 10 years” on gun control.
Democratic Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes won a third term with a victory over Republican Alan L. Keyes, a former State Department official.
The eight incumbent members of the House of Representatives were also favored to win reelection.
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