State Roundup, April 27, 2016

CHARTING THE PRIMARY: Here’s the overall primary results from the Sun.  Here’s the overall primary results in the Post.

• Most of the pundits, forecasters, pollsters and politicos had it right about pretty much all the races in Maryland’s primary Tuesday. They just weren’t right enough — the winners did even better than predictions and poll numbers, writes Len Lazarick in MarylandReporter.com, giving his spin on some of the key races, and a couple of minor ones.

VAN HOLLEN BEATS EDWARDS: Rep. Chris Van Hollen, a seven-term congressman who has risen rapidly through the ranks of the Democratic leadership in Washington, won the party’s nomination for Maryland’s open Senate seat Tuesday, John Fritze reports for the Sun.

• Moments after conceding at a union hall in Prince George’s County, Donna Edwards gave a pointed speech, criticizing her “friends in the state Democratic Party,” which she said is on the verge of “an all-male delegation in a so-called progressive state.” She said Democrats cannot continue to ignore women and people of color, Rachel Weiner reports in the Post.
• Robert McCartney of the Post interviews voters who said that the Senate race for them was not about race or gender.

SZELIGA WINS IN GOP SENATE PRIMARY: Kathy Szeliga, a state lawmaker from Baltimore County, won the GOP nomination for Maryland’s open Senate seat on Tuesday. She now faces the daunting task of running as a Republican in a state that hasn’t elected a GOP senator since 1980. John Fritze writes in the Sun that Szeliga, 54, will face an uphill fight this year in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski. Democrats enjoy a two-to-one advantage in registration in Maryland.

RASKIN WIN IN 8th CONGRESSIONAL: State Sen. Jamie Raskin defeated self-funded businessman David Trone and former television news anchor Kathleen Matthews in the most expensive congressional primary race in the nation — a crowded contest in Maryland’s Montgomery County-based 8th District. On the Republican side, attorney Dan Cox, a former Town Council president from Dorchester County, defeated a field of four other candidates, Jeff Barker reports in the Sun.

• Raskin was outspent 6-to-1 by Trone, a wealthy Potomac wine retailer who poured more than $12 million of his own into his candidacy,  writes Bill Turque in the Post.
• Louis Peck of Bethesda Beat writes that Raskin is an outspokenly liberal member of the General Assembly who has been at the forefront of battles ranging from legalizing same-sex marriage to abolishing the death penalty over the past decade.

BROWN BEATS IVEY: Former Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown — who lost the 2014 gubernatorial race — defeated county prosecutor Glenn F. Ivey in the Democratic primary for the open congressional seat in the Prince George’s County-centered 4th District, writes Jeff Barker in the Sun.

• Brown beat popular former two-term state’s attorney Glenn F. Ivey. Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk (Prince George’s) was a distant third. After his defeat by now-Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in 2014, Brown’s return to political life was fraught with doubts that he could muster the will, money and momentum to win the nomination against a field of formidable competitors, reports Arelis Hernandez for the Post.
• Phil Davis of the Annapolis Capital quotes Brown as saying that his campaign “has always been about giving back to the community where my wife and I raise our family, and where I have dedicated my life to public service.”

6 HOUSE INCUMBENTS WIN PRIMARY: Maryland’s six House incumbents all coasted to victory Tuesday in their primary races, Matthew Hay Brown reports for the Sun. Democraitc Reps. Elijah E. Cummings, John Sarbanes, Dutch Ruppersberger, Steny Hoyer and John Delaney and Republican Rep. Andy Harris faced little or no competition. Given the partisan makeup and voting histories of the state’s House districts, all six incumbents enter the general election campaign as heavy favorites to win reelection in November.

HOEBER TO CHALLENGE DELANEY: The general election race to represent Maryland’s 6th District in the U.S. House of Representatives will pit a first-time Republican with national defense and security expertise against a two-term Democratic incumbent, writes Nancy Lavin in the Frederick News Post. Amie Hoeber emerged the GOP victor on Tuesday with 29% of the vote, while Democratic Rep. John Delaney cinched his party’s nomination by an overwhelming 85%.

• The faceoff between Delaney and Hoeber will pit two neighbors against each other, living just a few houses apart on the same road in Potomac. Both reside in District 8, a short distance outside the boundaries of District 6; a candidate for Congress is required only to reside in the state in which he or she is running, not in the specific congressional district, Louis Peck reports in Bethesda Beat.

PUGH WIN IN MAYOR’S RACE: State Sen. Catherine E. Pugh narrowly defeated former Mayor Sheila Dixon in the crowded Democratic primary for Baltimore mayor — a race many called the most important in a generation with the city still recovering from the rioting of last April, report Yvonne Wenger and Luke Broadwater for the Sun.

• Pugh, a favorite in recent polls, defeated 12 other Democratic candidates. The victory essentially paves the way for a general election victory for Pugh in a Democratic-heavy Baltimore City, Ryan Sharrow writes in the Baltimore Business Journal.

CECIL COUNTY EXEC RACE: Cecil County Council Vice President Alan McCarthy trumped the field of four candidates Tuesday night as ballots were tallied in the race for Cecil County executive on the Republican ticket. McCarthy will now face Wayne Tome, the only Democrat running for county executive, in the Nov. 8 general election, Cheryl Mattix reports for the Cecil Whig.

CLINTON WINS DEM NOD: Hillary Clinton added to her aura of inevitability Tuesday by winning primaries in Maryland and three other states, Erin Cox of the Sun reports. Maryland was the second-biggest prize among the five East Coast states casting ballots Tuesday in the so-called Acela primary.

• Clinton all but secured the Democratic nomination Tuesday after a long and bruising primary fight against rival Sen. Bernie Sanders, scoring decisive victories in four of five East Coast states to cast ballots, including Maryland, according to the Post.

TRUMP WINS GOP NOD: Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump swept the primaries in Maryland and four other states Tuesday to further solidify his lead in the Republican presidential nominating contest, Erin Cox of the Sun reports. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s over,” the billionaire New York real estate developer said in New York.

• Trump rolled to crushing victories Tuesday in primaries across the Eastern Seaboard, substantially expanding the divisive mogul’s delegate lead and narrowing the chances for his opponents to stop his march to the Republican presidential nomination, according to the Post.

TRUMP MOCKS CLINTON: While celebrating sweeping victories in five primaries Tuesday night, Donald Trump mocked the qualifications of Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and suggested she was playing “the women’s card” to her advantage in the presidential race, the Post is reporting.  “Frankly, if Hillary Clinton were a man, I don’t think she’d get 5 percent of the vote. The only thing she’s got going is the women’s card,” Trump said during a press conference at Trump Tower. “And the beautiful thing is, women don’t like her.”

ON TO THE GOP CONVENTION: Newly elected District 5 Republican National Convention delegate Jim Crawford is ready for a fight, though he does not think it will be necessary, Stephen Pimpo reports for the Annapolis Capital. For the first time in 40 years a major party presidential candidate could be chosen on a contested convention ballot. “Personally, I’m not expecting it, but we’re ready if it happens,” said Crawford, who is a Donald Trump supporter.

VOTING HOURS EXTENDED FOR SOME: Voting was extended by one hour at four polling locations in Baltimore Tuesday evening after the U.S. Senate campaign of Rep. Donna Edwards sought a court order to keep open sites where voting had been delayed, writes Justin Fenton in the Sun.

• With four Baltimore polling sites ordered to stay open an hour later because they opened late Tuesday, some voters took advantage, according to the Sun. Circuit Court Althea Handy ordered that four centers stay open until 9 p.m. Baltimore attorney William H. “Billy” Murphy Jr. had filed an injunction to extend the hours at as many as 10 polling locations on behalf of Donna Edwards’ Senate campaign.

MISSING ‘I VOTED’ STICKERS: Baltimore’s election director said his staff did not include the “I Voted” stickers in the cabinets sent to the city’s 296 precincts, but shortly after noon, packs were sent out to polling places, writes Yvonne Wenger for the Sun.  “I’ll take the blame for that,” said Armstead B.C. Jones Sr., the election director.