As we look forward to November’s elections, Broadneck Patch is devoted to bringing you the information you need about every race in town. Here's our start on the candidates and issues we'll be covering as November draws near. Bookmark this page for updates as they are posted.

U.S. President
President Barack Obama: Maryland is a reliably Democratic state for presidential candidates. Obama held a fundraiser in Owings Mills on June 12 as well as campaigned in Baltimore with Gov. Martin O'Malley. He visited Towson University for a basketball game in November 2011.

Mitt Romney: The former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential nominee visited Maryland in March. Remember the Etch A Sketch comment? That came on the day Romney visited Arbutus. Romney won the Maryland primary in April.

U.S. Senate
Sen. Ben Cardin: The incumbent Democrat is seeking a second term in the U.S. Senate. He has shared many of his views in his blog on Patch.

Daniel Bongino: Cardin's Republican opponent is Daniel Bongino of Severna Park. He is a former Secret Service agent, and participated in the Cape St. Claire Strawberry Festival in June. Bongino sat down with Severna Park Patch editor Leslie Hunt in April to do a video interview about his candidacy.

3rd Congressional District
Rep. John Sarbanes: The Democrat is seeking a fourth term in Maryland’s 3rd Congressional District. If re-elected, the Towson resident will represent parts of Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel and Montgomery Counties as well as parts of Baltimore City in the newly reconfigured district. Sarbanes made headlines in May when he announced that the majority of his campaign funds would come from small donors. In 2010, he was re-elected with 61 percent of the district’s vote.

Eric Knowles: No one is predicting a close race in Maryland's Congressional 3rd District, but if someone is going to upset Democratic incumbent Rep. John Sarbanes, it's the Republican Knowles. The son of a former Green Beret and police officer, Knowles calls himself a strict constitutionalist who says the nation's economic problems can be solved if the government prints less money.

4th Congressional District
Rep. Donna Edwards: The Democrat is seeking her third term for the 4th Congressional District. In 2008, she became the first African-American woman in Congress from Maryland when she was elected in 2008.

Faith Loudon: The Republican and resident of Pasadena is seeking her first Congressional term in the newly redistricted 4th District, which bisects the Broadneck peninsula.

Same-sex Marriage: On March 1, Gov. Martin O’Malley signed into law a bill allowing same-sex couples to wed in Maryland. Despite celebrations from supporters, opponents in May of same-sex marriage turned in about twice the number of signatures they needed to send the law to referendum in November. Until then, supporters of same-sex marriage, such as Equality Maryland are mobilizing support, canvassing and holding public events. Groups that oppose same-sex marriage, including the Maryland Catholic Conference, are still soliciting support and fundraising. In May, Maryland Sen. John Astle (D-30th District), while speaking to a group in Arnold, said that the issue sidetracked congressmen during this term, which he called the worst he'd ever been involved in.