During the course of Maryland’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign cycle, incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan (R) has been touted by pollsters and political experts as the favorite to win in the general election this November. Still, the governor’s formidable advantage hasn’t deterred the emergence of a crowded Democratic primary election on June 26. Eight Democrats vie for the nomination.
But while many politicians are motivated to replace Hogan, it remains unclear how many voters are similarly motivated to show their support.
“There are a lot of undecided voters,” said Mileah Kromer, associate professor and director of the Sarah T. Hughes Field Politics Center at Goucher College in Towson. “When 40 percent of the voters are undecided at this late stage of the game, it really says something about the attention paid to this race. That should really be of concern, I think, to the Democrats.”
A poll conducted by the University of Maryland and published in The Washington Post on June 6 saw former NAACP CEO Ben Jealous and Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker emerge as the front-runners. And a Baltimore Sun and University of Baltimore poll found that 60 percent of Democratic voters likely to vote in the primary approve of the job Hogan is doing.
Matt Crenson, professor emeritus and academy professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University, feels that the abundance of Democrats vying for the nomination is preventing them from making an impact in the minds of potential voters.
“There’s so many of them. For one, it affects the format of the debates,” said Crenson. “It’s very difficult for them to flesh out their positions with such limited time. They’ve had to try harder than they might have otherwise to distinguish themselves from one another.”
The crowded field also includes Krish Vignarajah, former policy director for First Lady Michelle Obama; attorney Jim Shea; author and former State Department official Alec Ross; state Sen. Richard Madaleno; teacher Ralph Jaffee; and business owner James Jones II.
No matter who the winner of the Democratic primary is, Kromer and Crenson agree they’ll have a hard time beating Gov. Hogan, in part because of the distance he has maintained from President Donald Trump.
“Unless something really disastrous happens between now and November, it’s difficult to see that any of them would be able to overcome the lead that Gov. Hogan has,” said Crenson.
Maryland’s governor has historically played a prominent role in advocating for the needs of the Jewish community across the state. Since the creation of the Maryland/Israel Development Center in the early 1990s, each governor has traveled on at least one mission to Israel.
The national political conversation in recent months has brought attention to the purported “blue wave” that is flipping typically Republican-voting districts and states to Democratic ones. Examples include Conor Lamb’s victory in Pennsylvania’s 18th congressional district in March and Democratic U.S. Sen. Doug Jones’ defeat of Republican Roy Moore in Alabama last December.
Maryland has long been a blue state, and therefore has fewer Republicans in office. Kromer believes this could be keeping voters from feeling the election excitement other states are experiencing.
“The misconception is that because Maryland is a blue state that it is a fully progressive state. It is not. It is ideologically mixed,” she said. “There may be some evidence that progressives are more motivated to vote in this election nationally, but it’s hard to say here.”
U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and each of the eight members representing Maryland in the House of Representatives are up for re-election this year. With the exception of District 6, where Rep. John Delaney will exit and run for president, neither Crenson nor Kromer feels there will be stiff competition for the incumbents.
In Montgomery County, other races for the June 26 primary include:
MARYLAND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6
Democrat
State Del. Aruna Miller (District 15)
State Sen. Roger Manno (District 19)
Dr. Nadia Hashimi
David Trone
Andrew Duck
Chris Hearsey
Chris Graves
George English
Republican
Amie Hoeber
Lisa Lloyd
Brad Rohrs
Karl Elasser
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
DISTRICT 14 HOUSE OF DELEGATES (three seats)
Democrat
Del. Anne Kaiser
Del. Eric Luedtke
Del. Pamela Queen
Paul Ransom
Republican
Patricia Fenati
Michael Ostroff
Kevin Dorrance
DISTRICT 14 SENATE
Democrat
Sen. Craig Zucker
Republican
Robert Drozd
DISTRICT 15 HOUSE OF DELEGATES (three seats)
Democrat
Del. Kathleen Dumais
Del. David Fraser-Hidalgo
Anis Ahmed
Amy Frieder
Hamza Khan
Kevin Mack
Tony Puca
Lily Qi
Andy Van Wye
Republican
Laurie Halverson
Harvey Jacobs
Marc King
DISTRICT 15 SENATE
Democrat
Sen. Brian Feldman
Hongjun Xin
Republican
David Wilson
DISTRICT 16 HOUSE OF DELEGATES (three seats)
Democrat
Del. Ariana Kelly
Del. Marc Korman
Jordan Cooper
Nuchhi Currier
Joseph Hennessey
Marc Lande
Sara Love
Samir Paul
Republican
Bill Day
DISTRICT 16 SENATE
Democrat
Sen. Susan Lee
Republican
Marcus Alzona
DISTRICT 17 HOUSE OF DELEGATES (three seats)
Democrat
Del. Kumar Barve
Del. Jim Gilchrist
Esam Al-Shareffi
Julian Haffner
Julie Palakovich Carr
Rebecca Smondrowski
Republican
George Ivan Hernandez
DISTRICT 17 SENATE
Democrat
Sen. Cheryl Kagan
Republican
Josephine Wang
DISTRICT 18 HOUSE OF DELEGATES (three seats)
Democrat
Del. Al Carr
Ron Franks
Mila Johns
Helga Luest
Leslie Milano
Joel Rubin
Emily Shetty
Jared Solomon
Republican
Linda Willard
DISTRICT 18 SENATE
Democrat
Del. Jeff Waldstreicher
Dana Beyer
Michelle Carhart
DISTRICT 19 HOUSE OF DELEGATES (three seats)
Democrat
Del. Bonnie Cullison
Del. Maricé Morales
Brian Crider
Charlotte Crutchfield
Marlin Jenkins
Vaughn Stewart
Carl Ward
Jade Wiles
Republican
Helen Domenici
Dave Pasti
Martha Schaerr
DISTRICT 19 SENATE
Democrat
Del. Ben Kramer
Republican
Alirio Martinez Jr.
DISTRICT 20 HOUSE OF DELEGATES (three seats)
Democrat
Del. David Moon
Del. Jheanelle Wilkins
Fatmata Barrie
Lorig Charkoudian
Malik Lendzondzo
Darian Unger
George Zokle
DISTRICT 20 SENATE
Democrat
Sen. Will Smith
Republican
Dwight Patel
DISTRICT 39 HOUSE OF DELEGATES (three seats)
Democrat
Del. Kirill Reznik
Del. Shane Robinson
Gabriel Acevero
Bobby Bartlett
Andy Hoverman
Lesley Lopez
Clint Sobratti
Republican
Verelyn Gibbs Watson
DISTRICT 39 SENATE
Democrat
Sen. Nancy King
Republican
Al Phillips
MONTGOMERY COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Democrat
Council member Roger Berliner (District 1)
Council member Marc Elrich (At Large)
Council member George Leventhal (At Large)
Del. Bill Frick (District 16)
David Blair
Rose Krasnow
Republican
Robin Ficker
MONTGOMERY COUNTY COUNCIL
AT-LARGE (four seats)
Democrat
Del. Charles Barkley (District 39)
Council member Hans Riemer (At Large)
Gabe Albornoz
Rosemary Arkoian
Marilyn Balcombe
Shruti Bhatnagar
Cherri Branson
Brandy Brooks
Craig Carozza-Caviness
Ron Colbert
Bill Conway
Hoan Dang
Tom Falcinell Jr.
Lorna Phillips Forde
Jill Ortman Fouse
Loretta Garcia
Paul Geller
Evan Glass
Richard Gottfried
Neil Greenberger
Seth Grimes
Ashwani Jain
Will Jawando
David Lipscomb
Melissa McKenna
Danielle Meitiv
Michele Riley
Graciela Rivera-Oven
Darwin Romero
Mohammad Siddique
Jarrett Smith
Steve Solomon
Chris Wilhelm
Republican
Robert Dyer
Chris Fiotes Jr.
Penny Musser
Shelly Skolnick
DISTRICT 1
Democrat
Bill Cook
Pete Fosselman
Andrew Friedson
Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez
Jim McGee
Regina Oldak
Dalbin Osorio
Meredith Wellington
Republican
Richard Banach
DISTRICT 2
Democrat
Council member Craig Rice
Tiquia Bennett
Republican
Ed Amatetti
Tom Ferleman
Kyle Sefcik
DISTRICT 3
Democrat
Council member Sidney Katz
Ben Schnider
DISTRICT 4
Democrat
Council member Nancy Navarro
Jay Graney
DISTRICT 5
Democrat
Council member Tom Hucker
Kevin Harris
Kenge Malikidogo-Fludd
WJW Senior Writer Hannah Monicken contributed to this article.
