United States Senate election in Maryland (June 26, 2018 Democratic primary)

Elections in Maryland, 2018

• General election: Nov. 6
• Voter registration deadline: Oct. 16
• Early voting: Oct. 25 - Nov. 1
• Absentee voting deadline: Postmark Nov. 6

• Online registration: Yes
• Same-day registration: Only during early voting period
• Voter ID: No ID required generally
• Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

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2022 → ← 2016
U.S. Senate, Maryland
Democratic primary Republican primary General election
Election details
Filing deadline: February 27, 2018
Primary: June 26, 2018 General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent: Ben Cardin (Democrat)
How to vote
Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in Maryland
Race ratings
Cook Political Report: Solid Democratic Inside Elections: Solid Democratic Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic
Ballotpedia analysis
U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018
See also
U.S. Senate, Maryland U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th Maryland elections, 2018 U.S. Congress elections, 2018 U.S. Senate elections, 2018 U.S. House elections, 2018 Arizona U.S. Senate raceCalifornia U.S. Senate raceConnecticut U.S. Senate raceDelaware U.S. Senate raceFlorida U.S. Senate raceHawaii U.S. Senate raceIndiana U.S. Senate raceMaine U.S. Senate raceMaryland U.S. Senate raceMassachusetts U.S. Senate raceMichigan U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate raceMinnesota U.S. Senate race (special)Mississippi U.S. Senate raceMississippi U.S. Senate race (special)Missouri U.S. Senate raceMontana U.S. Senate raceNebraska U.S. Senate raceNevada U.S. Senate raceNew Jersey U.S. Senate raceNew Mexico U.S. Senate raceNew York U.S. Senate raceNorth Dakota U.S. Senate raceOhio U.S. Senate racePennsylvania U.S. Senate raceRhode Island U.S. Senate raceTennessee U.S. Senate raceTexas U.S. Senate raceUtah U.S. Senate raceVermont U.S. Senate raceVirginia U.S. Senate raceWashington U.S. Senate raceWest Virginia U.S. Senate raceWisconsin U.S. Senate raceWyoming U.S. Senate raceSubmit

A Democratic Party primary election took place on June 26, 2018, in Maryland to determine which Democrat would run in the state's November 6, 2018, general election.

This page focuses on the Democratic primary. For an overview of the election in general, click here. Incumbent Sen. Ben Cardin (D) reported nearly $1.7 million in cash on hand at the end of the second quarter of 2017. He was re-elected to the Senate in 2012 by a margin of 30 points and was not expected to face a competitive primary challenger.

See also: United States Senate Democratic Party primaries, 2018

Candidates and election results

See also: Statistics on U.S. Congress candidates, 2018

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maryland on June 26, 2018.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maryland

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Cardin	80.3	477,441
		Chelsea Manning	5.8	34,611
		Jerry Segal	3.4	20,027
		Debbie Wilson	3.2	18,953
	Submit photo	Marcia Morgan	2.7	16,047
		Lih Young	1.7	9,874
		Richard Vaughn	1.6	9,480
		Erik Jetmir	1.4	8,259

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 594,692
= 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

• Mia Mason (D)

Campaign finance

The table below contains data from FEC Quarterly October 2017 reports. It includes only candidates who reported at least $10,000 in campaign contributions as of September 30, 2017.

Democrats

Pivot Counties

See also: Pivot Counties by state

There are no Pivot Counties in Maryland. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.

In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Maryland with 60.3 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 33.9 percent. In presidential elections between 1789 and 2016, Maryland voted Democratic 52 percent of the time and Republican 21 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Maryland voted Democratic all five times.

State overview

Partisan control

This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in Maryland heading into the 2018 elections.

Congressional delegation

• Following the 2016 elections, Democrats held both U.S. Senate seats in Maryland.
• Democrats held seven of eight of the U.S. House seats in Maryland.

State executives

• As of September 2018, Republicans held three of 12 state executive positions, Democrats held two, and the remaining positions were officially nonpartisan.
• The governor of Maryland was Republican Larry Hogan. The state held elections for governor and lieutenant governor on November 6, 2018.

State legislature

• Democrats controlled both chambers of the Maryland General Assembly. They had a 91-50 majority in the state House and a 33-14 majority in the state Senate.

Trifecta status

• Maryland was under divided government, meaning that the two parties shared control of the state government. Larry Hogan (R) served as governor, while Democrats controlled the state legislature.

2018 elections

See also: Maryland elections, 2018

Maryland held elections for the following positions in 2018:

• One U.S. Senate seat
• Eight U.S. House seats
• Governor and lieutenant governor
• Two lower state executive positions
• 47 state Senate seats
• 141 state House seats

Demographics

Demographic data for Maryland
	Maryland	U.S.
Total population:	5,994,983	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	9,707	3,531,905
Race and ethnicity**
White:	57.6%	73.6%
Black/African American:	29.5%	12.6%
Asian:	6%	5.1%
Native American:	0.3%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0%	0.2%
Two or more:	3%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	9%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	89.4%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	37.9%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$74,551	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	10.7%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Maryland. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

As of July 2016, Maryland's three largest cities were Baltimore (pop. est. 611,648), Columbia (pop. est. 103,439), and Germantown (pop. est. 90,494).

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Maryland from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Historical elections

Presidential elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Maryland every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Maryland 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Hillary Clinton	60.3%	Donald Trump	33.9%	26.4%
2012	Barack Obama	62.0%	Mitt Romney	35.9%	26.1%
2008	Barack Obama	61.9%	John McCain	36.5%	25.4%
2004	John Kerry	55.9%	George W. Bush	42.9%	13.0%
2000	Al Gore	56.6%	George W. Bush	40.2%	16.4%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Maryland from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Maryland 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Chris Van Hollen	60.9%	Kathy Szeliga	35.7%	25.2%
2012	Ben Cardin	56.0%	Dan Bongino	26.3%	29.7%
2010	Barbara Mikulski	62.2%	Eric Wargotz	35.8%	26.4%
2006	Ben Cardin	54.2%	Michael Steele	44.2%	10.0%
2004	Barbara Mikulski	64.8%	E. J. Pipkin	33.8%	31.0%
2000	Paul Sarbanes	63.2%	Paul Rappaport	36.7%	26.5%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Maryland.

Election results (Governor), Maryland 2000-2016
Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Larry Hogan	51.0%	Anthony G. Brown	47.2%	3.8%
2010	Martin O'Malley	49.5%	Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.	41.8%	6.7%
2006	Martin O'Malley	52.7%	Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.	46.2%	6.5%
2002	Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr.	51.6%	Kathleen Kennedy Townsend	47.7%	3.9%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Maryland in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Maryland 2000-2016
Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	1	12.5%	7	87.5%	D+7
2014	1	12.5%	7	87.5%	D+7
2012	1	12.5%	7	87.5%	D+7
2010	2	25%	6	75%	D+4
2008	1	12.5%	7	87.5%	D+7
2006	2	25%	6	75%	D+4
2004	2	25%	6	75%	R+1
2002	2	25%	6	75%	R+1
2000	4	50.0%	4	50.0%	Even

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Maryland Party Control: 1992-2025
Twenty-two years of Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25
Governor	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D
Senate	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
House	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

See also

• United States Senate election in Maryland, 2018
• United States Senate election in Maryland (June 26, 2018 Republican primary)
• United States Senate elections, 2018
• United States House of Representatives elections in Maryland, 2018

Footnotes

[show]

Maryland's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Angela Alsobrooks (D)

Chris Hollen (D)

Representatives

District 1

Andrew Harris (R)

District 2

John Olszewski (D)

District 3

Sarah Elfreth (D)

District 4

Glenn Ivey (D)

District 5

Steny Hoyer (D)

District 6

April McClain-Delaney (D)

District 7

Kweisi Mfume (D)

District 8

Jamie Raskin (D)

Democratic Party (9)

Republican Party (1)

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