Rushern Baker III
Rushern Baker III (Democratic Party) is running for election to the U.S. House to represent Maryland's 5th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the Democratic primary scheduled on June 23, 2026.[source]
Biography
Rushern Baker III was born in Valdosta, Georgia. He served in the U.S. Army from 1987 to 2001. He earned a bachelor's degree from Howard University in 1982 and a law degree from Howard University in 1986. His career experience includes working as a principal at the Baker Strategy Group.[1]
Elections
2026
See also: Maryland's 5th Congressional District election, 2026
General election
The primary will occur on June 23, 2026. The general election will occur on November 3, 2026. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
General election for U.S. House Maryland District 5
Jonathan Burruss (Unaffiliated), Brian Jordan (Unaffiliated), and Mildred Hall (Other) are running in the general election for U.S. House Maryland District 5 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
| Jonathan Burruss (Unaffiliated) | ||
| Brian Jordan (Unaffiliated) | ||
| Mildred Hall (Other) (Write-in) | ||
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Maryland District 5
The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Maryland District 5 on June 23, 2026.
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Steny Hoyer (D)
- Jennifer Cross (D)
Republican primary
Republican primary for U.S. House Maryland District 5
Chris Chaffee (R), Bryan Duval Cubero (R), and Michelle Talkington (R) are running in the Republican primary for U.S. House Maryland District 5 on June 23, 2026.
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| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jordan Eversley (R)
Endorsements
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2022
See also: Maryland gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2022
General election
General election for Governor of Maryland
The following candidates ran in the general election for Governor of Maryland on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Wes Moore (D) | 64.5 | 1,293,944 |
 | Dan Cox (R) | 32.1 | 644,000 | |
 | David Lashar (L) | 1.5 | 30,101 | |
 | David Harding (Working Class Party) | 0.9 | 17,154 | |
 | Nancy Wallace (G) | 0.7 | 14,580 | |
 | Kyle Sefcik (Independent) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 596 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 4,848 | ||
| Total votes: 2,005,223 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Maryland
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Maryland on July 19, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Wes Moore | 32.4 | 217,524 |
 | Tom Perez | 30.1 | 202,175 | |
 | Peter Franchot | 21.1 | 141,586 | |
 | Rushern Baker III (Unofficially withdrew) | 4.0 | 26,594 | |
 | Douglas F. Gansler | 3.8 | 25,481 | |
 | John B. King Jr. | 3.7 | 24,882 | |
 | Ashwani Jain | 2.1 | 13,784 | |
 | Jon Baron | 1.8 | 11,880 | |
 | Jerry Segal | 0.6 | 4,276 | |
 | Ralph Jaffe | 0.4 | 2,978 | |
| Total votes: 671,160 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Laura Neuman (D)
- Mike Rosenbaum (D)
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Maryland
Dan Cox defeated Kelly Schulz, Robin Ficker, and Joe Werner in the Republican primary for Governor of Maryland on July 19, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Dan Cox | 52.0 | 153,423 |
 | Kelly Schulz | 43.5 | 128,302 | |
 | Robin Ficker | 2.8 | 8,268 | |
 | Joe Werner | 1.7 | 5,075 | |
| Total votes: 295,068 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Governor of Maryland
Incumbent Larry Hogan defeated Ben Jealous, Shawn Quinn, and Ian Schlakman in the general election for Governor of Maryland on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Larry Hogan (R) | 55.4 | 1,275,644 |
 | Ben Jealous (D) | 43.5 | 1,002,639 | |
 | Shawn Quinn (L) | 0.6 | 13,241 | |
 | Ian Schlakman (G) | 0.5 | 11,175 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 1,813 | ||
| Total votes: 2,304,512 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Governor of Maryland
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Governor of Maryland on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Ben Jealous | 40.9 | 231,895 |
| Rushern Baker III | 30.3 | 171,697 | |
| Jim Shea | 8.6 | 48,647 | ||
 | Krishanti Vignarajah | 8.5 | 48,042 | |
 | Richard Madaleno | 6.0 | 34,184 | |
| Alec Ross | 2.4 | 13,780 | ||
| Ralph Jaffe | 1.7 | 9,405 | |
| James Jones | 1.6 | 9,188 | ||
| Total votes: 566,838 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Governor of Maryland
Incumbent Larry Hogan advanced from the Republican primary for Governor of Maryland on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Larry Hogan | 100.0 | 210,935 |
| Total votes: 210,935 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
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2022
Rushern Baker III completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Baker's responses.
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- Communities cannot function when they don’t feel safe. All people deserve to feel safe; safe when they go to work, school, places of worship, and as they go about their daily lives. Experience tells us that the key to unlocking public safety is healing underlying root causes and creating unique approaches tailored to the specific needs of each jurisdiction. The Transforming Maryland Initiative (TMI) is our answer. However, we also know a crisis when we see one, and that’s exactly what is happening in Baltimore with the killing of mostly young, Black men. This will end with our administration.
- Our number one priority is to fulfill the promise of excellence we’ve made to each Maryland child by fully funding The Blueprint for Maryland’s future. As career-long champions of education, we are committed to being caretakers of this plan to ensure the bold funding goals are met and that each initiative is properly executed. The Blueprint’s focus on equity, enrichment, innovation, and inclusion means investing in our students and educators today to create an acclaimed education system for tomorrow.
- It shouldn’t take a global pandemic to wake us up to the inequities of our healthcare system. For years, we have struggled with rising costs and, in many parts of our state, accessing quality care is next to impossible. Healthcare is a human right and our system is broken. We believe the best solution is to implement a single-payer Medicare for All program in Maryland in which the state would provide high-quality care at affordable costs. We must also address the major provider shortage we’re facing by ensuring nurses, physicians, and PAs are fairly compensated, treated with respect, and well-supplied with the resources they need to do their jobs.
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Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on May 31, 2022
