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Maryland's 8th Congressional District election, 2020
- Election date: Nov. 3
- Registration deadline(s): Oct. 13
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: Yes
- Recount laws
- Early voting starts: Oct. 26
- Absentee/mail voting deadline(s): Nov. 3 (postmarked); Nov. 13 (received)
- Processing, counting, and challenging absentee/mail-in ballots
- Voter ID: No ID
- Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
2022 →
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| Maryland's 8th Congressional District |
|---|
 |
| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: January 24, 2020 |
| Primary: June 2, 2020 General: November 3, 2020 Pre-election incumbent: Jamie Raskin (Democrat) |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in Maryland |
| Race ratings |
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, 2020 |
| See also |
1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th • 5th • 6th • 7th • 8th Maryland elections, 2020 U.S. Congress elections, 2020 U.S. Senate elections, 2020 U.S. House elections, 2020 |
All U.S. congressional districts, including the 8th Congressional District of Maryland, held elections in 2020.
Incumbent Jamie Raskin won election in the general election for U.S. House Maryland District 8.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
Heading into the election the incumbent was Democrat Jamie Raskin, who was first elected in 2016.
Maryland's 8th Congressional District encompasses parts of Carroll, Frederick and Montgomery counties.[1]
Election procedure changes in 2020
Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.
Maryland modified its absentee/mail-in and candidate filing procedures, early voting, and polling places for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:
- Absentee/mail-in voting: Absentee/mail-in ballot request forms sent to all qualified voters in the general election. The return deadline for absentee/mail-in ballot requests was October 20, 2020.
- Candidate filing procedures: The petition signature requirement for obtaining party status for the Green and Libertarian parties was reduced from 10,000 to 5,000 signatures. The nomination petition signature requirement for unaffiliated candidates was reduced by 50 percent.
- Early voting: An early voting period ran from October 26, 2020 through November 2, 2020.
- Polling places: All early voting centers and Election Day polling locations were open on November 3, 2020. The Maryland State Board of Elections operated a limited number of centralized voting centers in lieu of precinct polling places for in-person voting in the general election.
For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.
Candidates and election results
General election
General election for U.S. House Maryland District 8
Incumbent Jamie Raskin defeated Gregory Coll and Lih Young in the general election for U.S. House Maryland District 8 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jamie Raskin (D) | 68.2 | 274,716 |
 | Gregory Coll (R)  | 31.6 | 127,157 | |
 | Lih Young (D) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 27 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.2 | 714 | ||
| Total votes: 402,614 | |||
| = 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 U.S. House Maryland District 8
Incumbent Jamie Raskin defeated Marcia Morgan, Lih Young, and Utam Paul in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Maryland District 8 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jamie Raskin | 86.8 | 111,894 |
| Marcia Morgan | 7.9 | 10,236 | ||
| Lih Young | 3.8 | 4,874 | |
| Utam Paul | 1.5 | 1,885 | ||
| Total votes: 128,889 | |||
| = 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 U.S. House Maryland District 8
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Maryland District 8 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gregory Coll | 41.8 | 13,070 |
 | Bridgette Cooper | 15.4 | 4,831 | |
 | Nicholas Gladden | 12.8 | 4,019 | |
| Patricia Rogers | 12.4 | 3,868 | ||
 | Shelly Skolnick | 9.5 | 2,979 | |
 | Michael Yadeta | 8.1 | 2,526 | |
| Total votes: 31,293 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Watch the Candidate Conversation for this race!
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.[2]
District analysis
- See also: The Cook Political Report's Partisan Voter Index
- See also: FiveThirtyEight's elasticity scores
The 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district was D+14, meaning that in the previous two presidential elections, this district's results were 14 percentage points more Democratic than the national average. This made Maryland's 8th Congressional District the 95th most Democratic nationally.[3]
FiveThirtyEight's September 2018 elasticity score for states and congressional districts measured "how sensitive it is to changes in the national political environment." This district's elasticity score was 0.87. This means that for every 1 point the national political mood moved toward a party, the district was expected to move 0.87 points toward that party.[4]
Campaign finance
This section contains campaign finance figures from the Federal Election Commission covering all candidate fundraising and spending in this election.[5] It does not include information on fundraising before the current campaign cycle or on spending by satellite groups. The numbers in this section are updated as candidates file new campaign finance reports. Candidates for Congress are required to file financial reports on a quarterly basis, as well as two weeks before any primary, runoff, or general election in which they will be on the ballot and upon the termination of any campaign committees.[6] The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Raskin | Democratic Party | $2,111,542 | $1,438,142 | $1,338,530 | As of December 31, 2020 |
| Lih Young | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Gregory Coll | Republican Party | $30,971 | $27,352 | $3,618 | As of December 31, 2020 |
|
Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2020. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
|||||
Race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
Ballotpedia provides race ratings from four outlets: The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and DDHQ/The Hill. Each race rating indicates if one party is perceived to have an advantage in the race and, if so, the degree of advantage:
- Safe and Solid ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge and the race is not competitive.
- Likely ratings indicate that one party has a clear edge, but an upset is possible.
- Lean ratings indicate that one party has a small edge, but the race is competitive.[7]
- Toss-up ratings indicate that neither party has an advantage.
Race ratings are informed by a number of factors, including polling, candidate quality, and election result history in the race's district or state.[8][9][10]
| Race ratings: Maryland's 8th Congressional District election, 2020 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| November 3, 2020 | October 27, 2020 | October 20, 2020 | October 13, 2020 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every week throughout the election season. | |||||||||
Candidate ballot access
The table below details filing requirements for 8th Congressional District candidates in Maryland in the 2020 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Maryland, click here.
| Filing requirements, 2020 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Office | Party | Signatures required | Signature formula | Filing fee | Filing fee formula | Filing deadline | Source |
| Maryland | 8th Congressional District | Principal parties | 0 | N/A | $100.00 | Fixed number | 1/24/2020 | Source |
| Maryland | 8th Congressional District | Unaffiliated | 2,748 | 1% of the eligible voters for the district (reduced by 50% by judge's order) | $100.00 | Fixed number | 8/3/2020 | Source |
District election history
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Maryland District 8
Incumbent Jamie Raskin defeated John Walsh and Jasen Wunder in the general election for U.S. House Maryland District 8 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jamie Raskin (D) | 68.2 | 217,679 |
 | John Walsh (R) | 30.2 | 96,525 | |
 | Jasen Wunder (L) | 1.5 | 4,853 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 273 | ||
| Total votes: 319,330 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = 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 U.S. House Maryland District 8
Incumbent Jamie Raskin defeated Summer Spring and Utam Paul in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Maryland District 8 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jamie Raskin | 90.5 | 81,071 |
 | Summer Spring | 5.8 | 5,239 | |
| Utam Paul | 3.7 | 3,272 | ||
| Total votes: 89,582 | |||
| = 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 U.S. House Maryland District 8
John Walsh defeated Bridgette Cooper and Victor Williams in the Republican primary for U.S. House Maryland District 8 on June 26, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | John Walsh | 44.9 | 9,095 |
| Bridgette Cooper | 31.3 | 6,341 | |
 | Victor Williams | 23.9 | 4,835 | |
| Total votes: 20,271 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2016
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Democratic. In Maryland's 8th Congressional District, incumbent Chris Van Hollen (D) chose not to run for re-election in 2016, instead seeking election to the U.S. Senate. Jamie Raskin (D) defeated Dan Cox (R), Nancy Wallace (Green), and Jasen Wunder (Libertarian) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Raskin defeated eight other candidates in the Democratic primary, while Cox defeated Jeffrey Jones, Elizabeth Matory, Aryeh Shudofsky and Shelly Skolnick to win the Republican nomination. Additionally, Wallace defeated Charles Galloway and Elizabeth Croydon to win the Green Party primary. The primary elections took place on April 26, 2016.[11][12]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Jamie Raskin |
60.6% | 220,657 | |
| Republican | Dan Cox | 34.2% | 124,651 | |
| Green | Nancy Wallace | 3.1% | 11,201 | |
| Libertarian | Jasen Wunder | 2% | 7,283 | |
| N/A | Write-in | 0.1% | 532 | |
| Total Votes | 364,324 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Jamie Raskin |
33.6% | 43,776 | ||
| David Trone | 27.1% | 35,400 | ||
| Kathleen Matthews | 23.9% | 31,186 | ||
| Ana Sol Gutierrez | 5.5% | 7,185 | ||
| William Jawando | 4.6% | 6,058 | ||
| Kumar Barve | 2.4% | 3,149 | ||
| David Anderson | 1.2% | 1,511 | ||
| Joel Rubin | 1.1% | 1,426 | ||
| Dan Bolling | 0.5% | 712 | ||
| Total Votes | 130,403 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections |
||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Dan Cox |
44.4% | 20,647 | ||
| Jeffrey Jones | 20.1% | 9,343 | ||
| Elizabeth Matory | 15.7% | 7,295 | ||
| Shelly Skolnick | 12.5% | 5,835 | ||
| Aryeh Shudofsky | 7.4% | 3,421 | ||
| Total Votes | 46,541 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections |
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2014
The 8th Congressional District of Maryland held an election for the U.S. House of Representatives on November 4, 2014. Chris Van Hollen (D) defeated Dave Wallace (R) in the general election.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Chris Van Hollen Incumbent |
60.2% | 127,260 | |
| Republican | Dave Wallace | 39.6% | 83,711 | |
| Write-in | Others | 0.2% | 516 | |
| Total Votes | 211,487 | |||
| Source: Maryland Secretary of State Official Results | ||||
See also
- United States House of Representatives elections in Maryland, 2020
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2020
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ United States Census Bureau, "Counties by Congressional Districts," accessed June 8, 2016
- ↑ 270towin.com, "Maryland," accessed June 22, 2017
- ↑ Cook Political Report, "Introducing the 2017 Cook Political Report Partisan Voter Index," April 7, 2017
- ↑ FiveThirtyEight, "Election Update: The Most (And Least) Elastic States And Districts," September 6, 2018
- ↑ Fundraising by primary candidates can be found on the race's respective primary election page. Fundraising by general election candidates can be found on the race's general election page.
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "2022 Quarterly Reports," accessed March 2, 2022
- ↑ Inside Elections also uses Tilt ratings to indicate an even smaller advantage and greater competitiveness.
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Nathan Gonzalez," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Kyle Kondik," April 19, 2018
- ↑ Amee LaTour, "Email correspondence with Charlie Cook," April 22, 2018
- ↑ Maryland State Board of Elections, "2016 Presidential Primary Election State Candidates List," accessed February 5, 2016
- ↑ The New York Times, "Maryland Primary Results," April 26, 2016
