Except for the 6th, Maryland Congressional Races Retain Their Sleepy Stasis

A quick look at Maryland's Eight Congressional Primaries

Maryland’s primary elections are still eleven months away, but the primary races for Congress are beginning in earnest across the state. And with the exception of one district, everything remains relatively sleepy. Let’s take a look at each of the Congressional races.

1st District
Democrats had their best shot since 2010 to defeat Republican Andy Harris last year when they nominated former Delegate Heather Mizeur. No candidates have filed so far to challenge Harris. Harris has already drawn the traditional token Republican challenger he gets almost every year who draws no more than 20% of the vote. This year, Chris Bruneau is the token challenger.

2nd District
There has been much speculation about Dutch Ruppersburger potentially retiring instead of running for re-election. If Ruppersburger does retire, there are a whole host of candidates who may take a shot at the seat, specifically Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski, Jr. So far, only Democrat Clinton Spellman Jr has filed to challenge Ruppersburger in the primary. Republicans will likely manage to nominate a candidate even worse than the self-important legend in her own mind Nicolee Ambrose.

3rd District
With John Sarbanes not running for U.S. Senate, any potential drama in this district has gone by the wayside.

4th District
Freshman Congressman Glenn Ivey certainly isn’t going anyway, but he has still drawn two challengers in Celeste Iroha and Gabriel Njinimbot. Conspiracy theorist George McDermott is running his typical perennial challenge that will net him at best 20% of the vote if he even makes it out of the primary.

5th District
Maryland Matters fed into the will-he-or-won’t-he speculation surrounding Steny Hoyer this morning. Like retiring U.S. Senator Ben Cardin, Hoyer was first elected to public office in 1966. Following 12 years in the Senate, including four years as Senate President, he lost a bid for Lieutenant Governor running with Blair Lee III in 1978. He was elected to Congress in a 1981 special election and has been there ever since.

If Hoyer runs again, he will win. McKayla Wilkes is running another doomed primary challenge against Hoyer and she will lose again. If Hoyer retires, Wilkes would have a puncher’s chance to win in what will no doubt be a very crowded Democratic primary as every Democrat in the 5th will leap at a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

The quality of Republican candidates will likely vary depending on whether or not Hoyer retires.

6th District
What a weird primary this is turning out to be so far.

On the Democratic side, the only filed candidate is George Gluck, the five-time Green Party nominee in the 6th who ran as a Democrat against incumbent David Trone in 2022. Announced, but not filed candidates are a motley crew including Delegate Lesley Lopez, Delegate Joe Vogel, biologically male perennial candidate Mia Mason, Steven McDow, and Destiny Drake West. Other Democrats may take a shot as well, as there appear to be no world-beaters in this district.

The Republican side remains populated by never-will-be challengers in Chris Hyser, Todd Puglisi (5.57%, 8th in the 2022 Republican Senate Primary), and Mariel Roca (7.62%, 4th in the CD-6 Primary in 2022). The loudest of these candidates is seemingly Chris Hyser, a self-important egomaniac who seemingly wished death upon David Trone. This is Republicans’ best shot for a pick-up in 2024, so a credible candidate will likely enter the race eventually.

7th District
Unless Kweisi Mfume retires, this will be another snoozer. Republican Lorrie Sigley is the only filed candidate.

8th District
The other intrigue among the Congressional races is the 8th, as Jamie Raskin determines if he will run for re-election or for the Senate. If Raskin runs for Senate, every deleted Democrat with a pulse in Montgomery County will at least test the waters to run for this seat. While it might be easy to suggest this is the one time David Blair’s immense wealth can push him over the top, remember that David Trone first ran for Congress in the 8th in 2016 and lost to Raskin.