TRUMP-BACKED COX BEATS SCHULZ FOR GOP GOV NOMINATION: Dan Cox, a conservative state delegate endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump who promoted election conspiracy theories, is the winner of Maryland’s Republican primary for governor while the result in the Democratic primary will be decided by hundreds of thousands of yet-to-be counted mail ballots. Pamela Wood, Emily Sullivan and Sophie Kasakove/The Baltimore Banner.
- Maryland’s Republican Party just got turned on its head. After eight years of a moderate Republican governor — one who many Marylanders still give high marks — Cox represents a sharp turn for some conservatives in the state. Sam Janesch/The Baltimore Sun.
- Cox, who was endorsed early by former President Trump, cast the result as a victory for freedom and for an “America First and Maryland First” agenda. “We will never again give up our bodies, our churches and our businesses to a lock-down state,” he told 150 jubilant supporters at the Emmitsburg Ambulance Co. in Frederick County. Josh Kurtz and Danielle Gaines/Maryland Matters.
- Despite being a win for Trump, Cox’s victory over former Hogan Cabinet member Kelly Schulz could be a blow to Republican chances to hold on to the seat in November. Hogan, who was prohibited from running for a third consecutive term, was a rare two-term Republican governor in a heavily Democratic state, and he had endorsed Schulz as the successor to his bipartisan style of leadership. Brian Witte/The Associated Press.
WHO IS DAN COX? Conservative Republican Del. Daniel L. Cox vigorously fought against the certification of President Biden’s 2020 victory and Maryland’s coronavirus mitigation measures. He launched a failed attempt to impeach Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, accusing him of malfeasance in office, theft of “the people’s liberty and property,” and “deprivation of the religious liberties of the people.” As rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, he called Vice President Mike Pence “a traitor” in a tweet he then deleted — later expressing regret for his choice of words. Ovetta Wiggins/The Washington Post.
Likely Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wes Moore speaks to supporters on Primary night. MarylandReporter.com photo by Len Lazarick.
MOORE LEADS FOR DEM GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATION: Best-selling author and former foundation executive Wes Moore, who began his long-shot pursuit of the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in single digits, catapulted into the lead on Tuesday as the first wave of ballots were counted. With early-voting ballots counted and 1,958 of 2,074 precincts reporting primary day ballots, Moore had 37% of the primary vote. Former U.S. Labor Secretary Tom Perez, a former Maryland Labor Secretary and Montgomery County Council member, had 27%. Comptroller Peter Franchot, the state’s four-term tax collector, fell short of expectations. Bruce DePuyt, William F. Zorzi, Nene Narh-Mensah/Maryland Matters.
HOGAN DEFENDS VETO OF EARLY VOTE COUNT BILL: As Maryland voters brace for days or weeks of not knowing who won tightly contested primary races, Gov. Larry Hogan doubled down on his veto that ensured the unprecedented scramble. “It’s regrettable the General Assembly did not pass a clean early-canvassing bill,” Hogan spokesman Michael Ricci said in response to questions about Hogan’s decision. Ovetta Wiggins/The Washington Post.
SLOW VOTING ON PRIMARY DAY: Over eight days or early voting, about 172,000 people cast their ballots — about 4.6% of all eligible registered voters. That’s lower than the 226,000 who voted during early voting in 2018. Nikki Charlson, deputy state elections director, said anecdotally that voting on primary day was “slow.” Some of the low turnout could be driven by the more than 500,000 mail-in ballots requested by voters around the state. Bryan Sears/The Daily Record.
OTHER STATEWIDE RACES
WHAT YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED: MANY RACES TOO CLOSE TO CALL: Maryland’s action-packed primary day ended Tuesday with nominees in some races and left many others too close to call as nearly every consequential state and local race was on the ballot. Here’s a rundown on what you might have missed, including the fact that Baltimore Del. Brooke E. Lierman was named the presumptive Democratic nominee for comptroller. Sam Janesch and Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
- Here are charts of the statewide primary results. Staff/ The Baltimore Banner.
LIERMAN TAKES DEM NOMINATION FOR COMPTROLLER: Baltimore Del. Brooke E. Lierman was named the projected Democratic nominee Tuesday night in the race to be Maryland’s next comptroller. According to The Associated Press, Lierman won the party nomination with 64% of the vote. Her opponent, Bowie Mayor Timothy J. Adams, reported 36%. Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
- In November, Lierman will face Republican challenger and Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, who ran unopposed in his party primary. Glassman, a former state senator and delegate, enters the competition at a statistical disadvantage in a state where registered, eligible Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2-to-1. A Republican hasn’t held the post since 1900. If elected in the general election, Lierman would be the first female comptroller in the state’s history. Brenda Wintrode/The Baltimore Banner.
BROWN WINS DEMOCRATIC NOMINATION FOR ATTY GEN: U.S. Rep. Anthony Brown won Tuesday’s Democratic primary for Maryland attorney general, defeating former Judge Katie Curran O’Malley of Baltimore. The Associated Press called the race for Brown, who led by 60% to 40% of votes counted, early Wednesday. Jessica Anderson/The Baltimore Sun.
CONGRESSIONAL RACES
IVEY LEADS EDWARDS IN 4th CONGRESSIONAL: Maryland may yet again have an all-male congressional delegation next year, with former Prince George’s State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey leading former Rep. Donna Edwards in the 4th District Democratic primary. Former Del. Heather Mizeur won the Democratic primary in the 1st District, but she’ll be the underdog in the general election against Rep. Andy Harris, the lone Republican in the state’s congressional delegation. Josh Kurtz, Danielle E. Gaines, Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters.
MIZEUR TO FACE OFF AGAINST REP. ANDY HARRIS: Heather Mizeur, a former state delegate and 2014 gubernatorial candidate, defeated former Foreign Service officer Dave Harden in the Democratic primary Tuesday for the right to run this fall against Rep. Andy Harris, Maryland’s sole Republican member of Congress. Jeff Barker and Hannah Gaskill/The Baltimore Sun.
TRONE-PARROTT IN THE 6th; RASKIN, VAN HOLLEN RENOMINATED: Democratic U.S. Rep. David Trone of Potomac will face a re-election challenge from Republican state Del. Neil Parrott of Hagerstown in November. The contest will be a rematch of the 2020 race, when the 6th District was more Democratic than it is now. Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin, in the 8th congressional District, were renominated as well in Tuesday’s primary election. Louis Peck, Christine Zhu and Anne Tallent/Bethesda Beat.
COUNTY EXECUTIVE RACES
BLAIR HOLDS SMALL LEAD AGAINST ELRICH: After an expensive, often acrimonious campaign that got underway more than 16 months ago, businessman David Blair was clinging to a small lead over incumbent Marc Elrich in the Democratic primary for county executive early Wednesday — in a rematch of their contest four years ago that Elrich won by just 77 votes. Louis Peck/Bethesda Beat.
- The three incumbent at-large County Council members led in early returns, but Tom Hucker, a district council member looking to join them, was battling a former Gaithersburg City Council member for the last seat. Steve Bohnel/Bethesda Beat.
HAIRE LEADS TO RUN AGAINST PITTMAN: Anne Arundel County Council member Jessica Haire was leading former Annapolis Del. Herb McMillan for the Republican nomination in the Anne Arundel county executive race after more than 23,300 in-person primary votes were counted. Democratic incumbent Steuart Pittman, who is unopposed in his primary race, received 22,530 votes. Brooks DuBose/The Capital Gazette.
OLSZEWSKI-McDONOUGH MATCHUP LIKELY IN BA CO: Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski breezed through the Democratic primary for his office Tuesday night, taking a commanding, 34,000 vote lead over Dundalk resident and first-time candidate Adam Reuter with nearly all of the Election Day precincts reporting. Olszewski had the Democratic contest well in hand, while former state delegate and radio personality Pat McDonough was leading the crowded field of newcomer Republican candidates by nearly 6,000 votes. Adam Willis/The Baltimore Banner.
- The race to represent the open County Council seat in the 6th District is close, with longtime Towson activist Mike Ertel ahead of first-time, politically-endorsed candidate Shafiyq Hinton by just 30 votes in the Democratic primary — with tens of thousands of ballots left to go. And the five incumbents look like they will retain their parties’ nominations. Taylor DeVille/The Baltimore Banner.
STATE’S ATTORNEY RACES
BATES LEADS FOR DEM NOMINATION IN BALTIMORE CITY: Defense attorney Ivan Bates has a sizable lead in the three-way race to be Baltimore’s next top prosecutor. Although most precincts have reported, there are at least 20,000 mail-in ballots to be counted in the race between incumbent Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, Bates and former prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah. The winner of the primary will face attorney Roya Hanna, who dropped out of the Democratic race to run as an independent, in November’s general election. Leo Sanderlin and Alex Mann/The Baltimore Sun.
TIGHT RACE IN BA CO: With tens of thousands of Baltimore County ballots yet to be counted, the Democratic primary for state’s attorney was extremely close Tuesday night, with only a few hundred votes separating attorney and Maryland Democratic Party Secretary Robbie Leonard and longtime incumbent Scott Shellenberger. Taylor DeVille/The Baltimore Banner.
SHOEMAKER LEADS ELLIN FOR CARROLL STATE’S ATTY: With all 50 precincts reporting primary election day and early voting returns in Carroll County, Haven Shoemaker held a large lead over David Ellin in the Carroll state’s attorney race. Shoemaker, a Maryland State delegate and former county commissioner, earned 9,682 votes (58%) to Ellin’s 7,003 (42%). Both candidates are Republican. There are no Democrats in the race, so the winner of the primary will be the county’s next state’s attorney. Molly Fellin Spence/The Carroll County Times.
HOWARD WEALTHIEST COUNTY IN STATE; NO. 6 NATIONWIDE: Howard County is the wealthiest locality in Maryland and the sixth wealthiest nationwide, according to the U.S. News & World Report. The report analyzed median household incomes and ranked the top 15 localities with the highest numbers. Howard County, Maryland’s sixth-largest county with 332,317 residents in the 2020 census, was reported to have a median household income of $124,042. Caitlynn Freeman/Baltimore Sun Media.
