Del. Don Dwyer is uncertain about an interview. He’s denounced news coverage of his role in a boat crash that fractured the skull of a 5-year-old girl. But the Pasadena Republican agreed to speak of events that drove him to drink.

The last time he talked publicly was Aug. 23, one day after the crash. He appeared in a wheelchair and announced that he was drinking before his 27-foot powerboat wrecked on the Magothy River.

Now, it’s opening day of the General Assembly session. And he shows no sign of injury while sitting in his Annapolis office with his legislative aide, Louisa Baucom....

...He said two events caused his drinking to increase: First, he separated from his wife in November 2011. Second, he felt “betrayed” by longtime allies in the State House...

...He doesn’t want to discuss what caused the separation with Cheryl, his wife of 31 years... He only says they were unable to live together anymore.

Pressures at home were met with challenges in the State House. Dwyer says he felt sold out when Dels. Tiffany Alston, Wade Kach and Bob Costa voted for same-sex marriage, an issue he spent years crusading against. Dwyer told reporters one day before the vote that he had enough support to block the bill. Kach, a Republican from Baltimore County, and Alston, a former Democrat from Prince George’s County, voted against the bill in committee. But Kach changed his vote after hearing testimony from gay couples. Alston shifted her vote after her amendment was adopted.

Kach and Costa, of Deale, were the only two House Republicans to vote for the bill. It passed the House by two votes in February.

“I had no time to do anything,” Dwyer said. “Had I known earlier, I could have taken some action.”

It was petitioned to the November ballot and passed by 52 percent of voters state wide. Voters in Dwyer’s district, however, rejected it.

“That betrayal really affected me,” he said. “I was physically ill. You pour your heart into an issue like that and it’s devastating.”

He said his drinking culminated in the crash.