POLITICS

Martin O’Malley on the Issues

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Former Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland speaking to reporters during a visit to Manchester, N.H., on May 13.Ian Thomas Jansen-Lonnquist for The New York Times
Martin O’Malley, a former governor of Maryland, announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination on Saturday. Positioning himself to the left of Hillary Rodham Clinton, he says he has a more consistent record than she does on matters like supporting same-sex-marriage, opposing the Iraq war and advocating on behalf of immigrants. Here are his stands on key issues.

Foreign Policy

Mr. O’Malley says the greatest threats to peace are a nuclear-armed Iran and extremist violence. He has supported President Obama’s efforts to reach a nuclear accord with Tehran, but also suggested that the president allowed the problem of the group calling itself the Islamic State to fester. Mr. O’Malley has been a longtime opponent of the Iraq war. He advocates a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, but says Israel has the right to defend itself against Hamas rocket attacks. He supports Mr. Obama’s outreach to Cuba: “Diplomacy creates opportunities,” he said on Twitter in December. “Embargoes don’t.”

Environment

Mr. O’Malley says climate change is “transforming the world in profound ways that continue to evolve.” He has supported the Obama administration’s rule to reduce carbon emissions from power plants by 30 percent. He opposes the Keystone XL pipeline to bring oil-sands petroleum from western Canada to the United States.

Same-Sex Marriage

Mr. O’Malley has long supported granting same-sex couples the right to marry, and he has criticized Mrs. Clinton, who now shares that view but previously said the matter should be left to the states. “I believe marriage is a human right, not a state right,” Mr. O’Malley said.

Immigration

He opposes sending children who have come to this country illegally back to their home countries. As governor of Maryland, he oversaw enactment of a system that made undocumented immigrants eligible for restricted drivers’ licenses that could be used as a form of identification — a topic on which Mrs. Clinton stumbled badly during her 2008 presidential campaign. (She, too, now supports providing drivers’ licenses to undocumented immigrants.)

Economy

Mr. O’Malley has focused his economic message on income inequality and his belief that the financial sector is too concentrated, exposing the nation to unnecessary risks. He wants to break up the nation’s biggest banks and reinstate a version of the Glass-Steagall Act, which prevented commercial banks from engaging in investment banking business. (The law was repealed under President Bill Clinton.) Mr. O’Malley also says he wants to expand Social Security benefits, and would pay for the expansion by subjecting annual incomes above $118,500 to Social Security taxes. He opposes the Trans-Pacific Partnership treaty, which would reduce tariffs with nations across the Pacific Rim, and — eyeing Mrs. Clinton, who hasavoided taking a clear position on it — said American workers whose jobs could be threatened by the agreement “deserve to know where leaders stand.”