Maryland Primary Races Bring No Surprises; Baltimore Mayoral Primary Incomplete

By Neel Lakhanpal '16

Maryland was among a string of Northeastern states last week to solidify the leads of the two respective presidential front-runners. With Donald Trump now running uncontested and Hillary holding a commanding lead (despite her loss in Indiana), we are all but assured of who will be our presidential candidates this cycle. Additionally, primaries were held for the new Senate vacancy left by the outgoing Barbara Mikulski, as were mayoral primaries for Baltimore.

Maryland was a classic state to support Clinton and Trump in the primaries. Clinton was benefitted by our large African-American population and our other similarities to more Southern states, in which she has done very well this year. We were also the archetype of a state in which Trump does well. He has flourished in blue states during the primaries because the Republicans that live in them tend to be even more “angry” and thereby politically energized to vote for him. Maryland being such a blue state, Trump had a distinct advantage. Additionally, Maryland Republicans have recently been even more galvanized due to the surprise victory two years ago of Larry Hogan. Although still dwarfed in number by Democrats, Maryland Republicans are feeling more relevant than before with Hogan in office. These factors combined to have us elect Trump and Hillary by wide margins.

The Senate Democratic primary ended in a victory for Chris Van Hollen, who soundly defeated Donna Edwards 53% to 38%. Both are current Maryland representatives in the House; Edwards represents Severna Park, Pasadena, and parts of PG country while Van Hollen represents the DC suburbs of Bethesda and Rockville. Van Hollen relied on the strong support of his district’s constituents. Edwards, however, largely failed to mobilize the black vote on which she was relying despite being an African-American woman. Many African Americans instead voted for Van Hollen. Since Maryland will almost certainly elect Van Hollen over the Republican primary winner Kathy Szeliga, we can count on Van Hollen replacing Mikulski’s seat this fall.

Lastly, and most interestingly, the primaries did not settle the Democratic primary for mayor of Baltimore. As of now, political outsider Catherine Pugh holds a lead of a couple thousand votes over former Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon. However, there are still provisional and absentee ballots being processed, and there is no official count as of yet. It is also possible that Dixon will request a recount when the final number arrives because of just how close the numbers are. We will have wait and see who Baltimore ultimately elects. 

Image courtesy of The Baltimore Sun.