By KATHARINE WILSON and AIDAN HUGHES

GERMANTOWN – Three days after polls closed on Election Day, Democrat April McClain Delaney on Friday declared victory over Republican Neil Parrott in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District race.

“I am deeply honored and humbled by the trust the people of Maryland’s 6th District have placed in me,” McClain Delaney said in a statement. “Since the beginning of this campaign, our message has been clear: it’s time for common sense, common ground leadership that puts people over politics, defends our freedoms and values, and builds a future centered on unity.”

Decision Desk HQ, which projects election outcomes, called the 6th District for McClain Delaney at 9:50 p.m. Thursday as the day’s tallies came in. However, the Associated Press had yet to declare a winner as of Friday afternoon.

The AP called the races for the other seven congressional districts in Maryland by 10:19 p.m. on election night.

The 6th District race was a rare phenomenon in Maryland: a competitive contest. That was clear as results came in Tuesday night showing McClain Delaney and Parrott in a neck-and-neck struggle. When counties across the state resumed canvassing additional mail-in votes on Thursday morning, the gap between two candidates was tight – separated by just over 300 votes.

But by Friday afternoon, McClain Delaney’s lead jumped to nearly 10,000 – winning 51.18% of counted ballots to Parrott’s 48.61%.

With the results of several congressional contests still outstanding, the outcome of the 6th District race will help determine whether the Democrats or the Republicans will control the House. The GOP is set to control the Senate and the White House, making the House the last remaining obstacle to a Republican trifecta.

The 6th District – which stretches from rural Western Maryland to the Montgomery County suburbs – has been represented by a Democrat since 2013.

McClain Delaney and Parrott fought to replace Rep. David Trone, D-Maryland, who opened up the seat to run unsuccessfully in the Senate primary.

Counties in Maryland stopped tabulating ballots Wednesday but resumed counting mail-in ballots Thursday morning. Those ballots could be postmarked or dropped in ballot drop boxes by 8 p.m. on Election Day, and can be received as late as 10 a.m. on Nov. 15. Counties begin counting provisional ballots – votes that require additional verification before being counted –  on Nov. 13, according to a State Board of Elections schedule.

Thousands of mail-in ballots and provisional ballots remain to be counted. As of Friday afternoon, McClain Delaney was leading mail-in ballots already counted across the district with nearly 72% of counted mail-ins.

Matthew Klein, U.S. House and governors analyst at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, said on Wednesday that he anticipated late vote counts from mail-in ballots would continue to swing towards McClain Delaney and secure her the seat.

Over 55% of all mail-in ballots in the 6th District were requested by registered Democrats, compared to about 23% by Republicans and 22% by unaffiliated and third party voters, according to data from the State Board of Elections.

About three out of four mail-in ballots requested in the 6th District for this year’s election were in Frederick and Montgomery counties, where the AP estimated the largest number of uncounted ballots remain – and most of those requests were from registered Democrats.

Delaney’s mail-in advantage was strongest in Montgomery County – which lies partially within the 6th District’s boundaries – where over 62% of mail-in ballots in the district were requested by Democrats compared to just over 13% by Republicans.

By 6:00 p.m. Thursday evening, over 140,000 mail-in ballots across Montgomery County had been received from voters and nearly 80,000 had been counted, according to data from the State Board of Elections.

Gilberto Zelaya,  community engagement and public relations officer for the Montgomery County Board of Elections, said late Thursday evening that the county counted over 13,000 additional mail-in ballots that day – though not all of those ballots were from voters in the 6th District.

The county’s next canvass is scheduled for Saturday.

Before Thursday, Frederick County had already counted 15,000 ballots and had an additional 20,000 ready to be counted, Barbara Wagner, the county’s election director, told CNS on Thursday.

Frederick County had about 5,000 provisional ballots left to count, Wagner said.

Wagner said the county board of elections expects to hit its deadline to finalize vote counts by Nov. 15. Zelaya wasn’t sure if the same could be said about Montgomery County, which he said usually requests extensions.

Maryland’s State Board of Elections also released a statement on Friday warning that “due to the high volume of mail-in ballots and historic number of provisional ballots, certification by the local board of canvassers may not be achieved by November 15.”

Election officials noted that even if news organizations call the race for one candidate as additional tallies come in, all eligible votes will be counted – and officials won’t declare a winner until then.

 

 

Conservative school board candidates saw sweeping wins across Maryland this week, defying expectations in the largely blue state and solidifying the influence of the 1776 Project PAC, the Republican-aligned organization that endorsed 19 candidates statewide.

Eleven of the political action committee’s endorsed candidates either won or narrowly led their races as of Friday morning. Candidates backed by the PAC won control of the school boards in Somerset and Calvert counties while appearing poised to win in Talbot County. Final results await the counting of some mail-in and provisional ballots, which must be counted by Nov. 15.

“Three Maryland school boards have been flipped to a conservative majority because of our efforts,” the 1776 Project PAC said on X.

A fourth school district with candidates targeted for defeat by Democrats – Washington County – also flipped to conservative control without the aid of the 1776 Project PAC.

Of those 10 1776 Project PAC-endorsed winners, six had also been targeted for defeat by the Maryland Democratic Party, which selected 24 “extreme” conservative school board candidates in the state to directly invest against – a move the party referred to as “unprecedented.” Of those 24, only nine have been lost thus far. The remaining 15 all won or are leading their respective races.

“We are proud that we pushed out some of the most extreme elements in these races,” said Luca Amayo, spokesperson for the Maryland Democratic Party. “It’s clear, however, that we must continue to bolster our grassroots efforts and make Marylanders aware of the far-right agenda encroaching into Maryland’s public schools, especially as they are emboldened under a Donald Trump presidency.”

The party considers the 1776 Project PAC a “radical right-wing group,” and helped defeat five of its endorsed candidates from winning office. Ryan James Girdusky, the committee’s founder, wrote on the PAC’s website that he created the organization “to change public education by reforming school boards and electing reform-minded conservatives who wanted to improve public education in this country.”

As of Oct. 16, the PAC had pumped $90,580.50 toward the campaigns of 13 candidates across Cecil, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Calvert, Somerset, and St. Mary’s counties. Of those 13, seven have won their elections and one remains too close to call.

In Calvert County, candidates endorsed by the 1776 Project PAC won all three school board seats.

Retired principal Mike Shisler lost his bid for the board. He said he fears that the new conservative leadership, all of whom were targeted by the state’s Democratic Party as well, would create inequity and fear within the county’s education system.

“I’m very disappointed in the results,” Shisler said Wednesday, “It’s not going to be inclusive of everybody. It’s going to target folks. It’s going to try to undo the work of previous boards of education when it came to stressing equity and diversity, and I think they’re trying to roll back the clock.”

Joseph Marchio, who defeated Shisler, said he expected a close race going into Tuesday night. His margin was the closest of the three 1776 Project PAC-backed victors in Calvert County.

In Washington County, on the state’s panhandle, all four candidates that Democrats targeted for defeat won their election, flipping the county’s school board into conservative control. All three non-targeted incumbents lost reelection, while April Ann Zentmeyer, the only targeted incumbent, defended hers.

“I look forward to working with new board members and faithful colleagues to maximize opportunities for students, faculty, staff, and parents; and to identify solutions that will strengthen WCPS,” Zentmeyer said in a statement.

Washington County has a county-wide school board election process, as opposed to the school districts where candidates are elected by district. Instead of one-on-one races, all school board candidates in Washington County face each other in a crowded pool, with the top four vote-getting candidates winning seats. Carroll, Allegany, and Frederick counties have similar systems.

The success of conservative school board candidates around Maryland reflects a larger trend from this year’s election cycle: the state’s rightward shift. According to data from the Associated Press, every county in Maryland shifted rightward this year compared to the 2020 election – from two points in Charles County and Baltimore City to eight points in Cecil County.

Some races remain too close to call. In Frederick County, two conservative candidates targeted by Democrats led the race for three seats as of Friday, but two other candidates trailed close behind. Talbot County, which flipped conservative this cycle, saw two 1776 Project PAC-endorsed candidates win seats, while a third trailed by a narrow margin as of Friday.

Somerset County, the third district flipped by 1776 Project PAC-endorsed contenders, saw massive margins of victory for the conservatives, with Mary Beth Bozman securing about four-fifths of the vote in her race. Her opponent was Alverne “Chet” Chesterfield – who, the Local News Network reported last month, had a peace order initiated against him in 2022.

The Local News Network also reported that Brandie Edelen, a 1776 Project PAC-endorsed candidate in St. Mary’s County, had a state tax lien filed against her in 2019. Edelen handily lost her race to Josh Guy.

Andrea Chamblee is in a tight race in deep-blue Howard County with the county’s Moms For Liberty chapter founder Trent Kittleman. Even though Democrat Kamala Harris carried over two-thirds of the votes cast in the presidential race in the county, Chamblee led  Kittleman by only 3.5 points as of Friday morning.

Mail-in and provisional ballots, which have leaned in favor of Chamblee this far, are still being counted.

The founder of Moms for Liberty in Frederick County, Jaime Brennan, appeared headed to victory. She said that despite the Maryland Democrats’ campaign against her and Colt Black, the other conservative in the race, that effort didn’t appear to be all that effective.

“They spent a lot of money in opposition to me and Colt, and to prop up the other side, but I didn’t hear from a single person who said, ‘Oh, I heard about this and I’m not voting for you,’” Brennan said.

In neighboring Carroll County, where Moms For Liberty lobbied to remove 60 books from school libraries – 21 permanently – conservative candidates secured their hold on the board. Greg Malveaux and Kristen Zihmer defeated Amanda Jozkowski and Muri Lynn Dueppen, who together ran an underdog progressive campaign called the Slate for Student Success, which was endorsed by the Carroll County Educators Association.

“It’s really a shame that a lot of voters in our county chose to kind of take their marching orders from their political party, rather than considering the opinions of the educators,” Jozkowski said. She previously ran and lost in 2022.

Jozkowski said the race reflected the national results, which saw an overwhelming rightward shift in nearly every state and many down-ballot races. The Maryland Democrats targeted Malveaux and Zihmer.

That rightward shift could also be seen in the school board race in Anne Arundel County’s District 3. There, the conservative candidate, Chuck Yocum, fell only 2.76 points behind his opponent, Erica McFarland, despite weeks of controversy over Yocum’s 1994 acquittal on child sexual abuse and perverted practices charges.

Local News Network reporters Sasha Allen, Marwa Barakat, Ela Jalil, Colin McNamara, and Tolu Talabi contributed to this report.

As she won her hotly contested Senate race Tuesday, fellow Democrat Lisa Blunt Rochester triumphed in her bid for the Senate next door in Delaware.

Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester will be the first tandem of Black women to serve simultaneously in the Senate’s over 200-year history. Despite the two Democrats’ wins, their party’s narrow majority in the Senate was ceded to the GOP.

In defeating her Republican opponent, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, by nearly 7%, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections at the time of publishing, Alsobrooks also will become the first Black senator in the Free State’s history.

“On one hand, it’s a sign of progress, but on the other hand, why has it taken so long?” Betsy Fischer Martin, executive director of American University’s Women and Politics Institute, told Capital News Service. “It’s about time.”

Despite Black women dominating voter turnout and mobilization efforts for years and serving as the most reliable voting bloc for the Democratic Party, their representation in the Senate does not accurately reflect their political importance, according to Fischer Martin.

At Alsobrooks’ Election Day watch party at The Hotel in College Park on Tuesday, those from the Prince George’s County executive’s home base were aware of the stakes.

“Hogan ran against her, we like Hogan, but we need the Senate for the Democrats,” campaign volunteer Judy Mickens-Murray of Upper Marlboro told CNS. “I think the state of Maryland, I think the constituents here, realize that.”

Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, D-Illinois, who broke the glass ceiling for the soon-to-be neighboring senators, says they’ll have an opportunity to forge new ground with more freedom than she had. Moseley Braun has served as a mentor for Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester since they announced their campaigns.

“We can build on what we’ve done so far, that’ll make their path easier than mine was,” Moseley Braun told CNS. ”It’s a different generation, and I’m just so proud of these young women that they haven’t been intimidated or frightened off from the challenge and decided to take it up anyway.”

Moseley Braun arrived on Capitol Hill in 1993 for her first day as a senator when U.S. Capitol Police briefly prohibited her from entering the Senate chamber. She said one of the officers tried to stop her before a colleague – who was acquainted with the fact that Illinois had elected a Black woman to the Senate – educated his counterpart.

“I was overwhelmed by the whole experience,” Moseley Braun recalled of her first day. “But I was able to take the oath and just go forward as a senator.”

During her term she was later reprimanded for using a cane on the chamber floor after a knee injury, a violation of a former pre-Civil War era rule, and became the first to break the unspoken “pants barrier” for female senators.

Sen. Laphonza Butler, D-California, who was appointed after the death of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, is the lone Black woman serving in the chamber. Butler has served her entire term as a lame duck after announcing in October 2023 that she had no intentions of running for a full six-year term.

Kamala Harris previously served as a California senator before becoming vice president. She was only the second Black woman in the Senate’s history at the time. Harris, elected in 2016, appeared in Alsobrooks ads endorsing her mentee while tying the two campaigns together.

Butler endorsed Alsobrooks and Blunt Rochester while also co-sponsoring a fundraiser this August in Chicago alongside Moseley Braun.

When on the campaign trail, Alsobrooks focused on how her identity would influence her policies.

“Every one of us in our country should be able to look in the Senate and see ourselves – of every race, of every gender and every background – because it makes our policies more complete,” Alsobrooks said at a rally at Bowie State University on Oct. 3. “In the United States of America, did you know that out of the 2006 senators we have elected in our country, we have elected Black women twice?”

Patrice Willoughby, chief of policy and legislative affairs for the NAACP, told CNS that some people have a false impression that Black officials only address issues pertaining to Black constituencies. To combat that prejudice, she said candidates often won’t mention their identities in their campaign fundraising and messaging.

“You have to work twice as hard to be considered half as good,” Willoughby said. “So when there are Black female candidates, the overlay of gender and race is not something that you campaign on. It really does indicate a level of preparation for them having to surmount the historic barriers to being able to campaign in a competitive way.”

Alsobrooks, 53, defeated a foe who was well known in Maryland. Hogan, 68, won two gubernatorial elections in 2014 and 2018.

“The history can be celebrated, but the senators themselves will want the focus to be on their achievements and goals,” Fischer Martin said. “That is how the coverage should turn, focusing on their substantive agendas.”

Throughout her “Defend Our Majority Tour,” Alsobrooks took aim at Hogan’s efforts to depict himself as politically independent in a party dominated by Donald Trump. In her victory speech, Alsobrooks saluted those that came before her like Moseley Braun, Harris and Butler, while pledging her commitment to the Marylanders who “dream of a better day.”

“Maryland’s the kind of state that would welcome an opportunity to welcome her as their new senator,” Moseley Braun said. “She’s obviously got the capacity to do the job and the heart to do the job in a way that makes Marylanders proud.”

Fischer Martin recalled late Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s famous quote while running for the U.S. Senate in 1992’s “the year of the woman,” when five women – including Moseley Braun – were elected to the chamber: “Two percent may be fine for fat in milk, but not for the United States Senate.”

“The same can be said for Black women in the Senate today,” Fischer Martin said. “Two is a start but not enough.

The 6th District contest between Democrat April McClain Delaney and Republican Neil Parrott was the only one of the eight House races that the Associated Press did not call on election night.

The race will likely come down to mail-in votes and ballots in leaning Montgomery County and Frederick County, which McClain Delaney said in a Fox 5 interview makes her optimistic about her campaign’s chances.

Parrott told Capital News Service Tuesday night that the race would likely not be called, citing mail-in ballots.

“I know this is going to be a close race,” Parrott said.

The candidates are running for the seat of Rep. David Trone, D-Maryland, who failed in his primary bid for U.S. Senate.

As the votes in the 6th District are counted, here is a rundown of the results for the rest of the Maryland delegation to the House.

1st Congressional District 

Rep. Andy Harris, R-Maryland, won his reelection bid against Democrat Blane Miller.

Harris – who represents the Eastern Shore, Harford County and parts of Baltimore County – ascended in September to the chairmanship of the House Freedom Caucus, a right-wing group of lawmakers. Harris is an original member of the group, which was founded in 2015.

The congressman has represented District 1 since 2011.

2nd Congressional District

Baltimore County Executive John “Johnny O” Olszewski, a Democrat, won his bid for Congress.

Olszewski faced radio show host Kim Klacik, the Republican, in the contest to represent Baltimore County.

Olszewski was first elected as Baltimore County executive in 2018 and reelected in 2022. He previously represented the county in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2006 to 2015 and worked as a public school civics teacher.

Olszewski will replace Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland, who is retiring.

3rd Congressional District

Democratic state Sen. Sarah Elfreth beat Republican businessman Rob Steinberger to represent Anne Arundel and Howard counties.

She was elected to the state Senate in 2019. Elfreth previously worked on economic development in university cities with the consulting firm Margrave Strategies and as the government affairs director for Baltimore’s National Aquarium.

Elfreth will replace retiring Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Maryland, who has served the district since 2007.

4th Congressional District

Rep. Glenn Ivey, D-Maryland, won his second term to represent Prince George’s County in Congress.

He won his campaign against Republican businessman George McDermott.

Ivey formerly served as the state’s attorney for Prince George’s County from 2003 to 2011. The lawyer established the Greenbelt law firm Ivey & Levetown in 2020.

5th Congressional District 

Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland, won his reelection to the seat he has held since 1981. The district covers Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties and portions of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties. Hoyer ran against Republican business owner Michelle Talkington.

Hoyer, 85, is a prominent Democrat in Congress, serving as the House majority leader from 2007 to 2011 and from 2019 to 2023.

The lawmaker stepped down from House leadership in 2023 to make way for a new generation of Democrats.

7th Congressional District

Rep. Kweisi Mfume, D-Maryland, won reelection to represent Baltimore City and parts of Baltimore County.

He was opposed by Republican Scott Collier, the founder of DundalkTV.

Mfume returned to representing the district in 2020, following the death of former Rep. Elijah Cummings. He represented the 7th District from 1987 to 1996. He left Congress to be the president of the NAACP for nine years.

8th Congressional District 

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, beat his GOP opponent, public relations strategist Cheryl Riley. His district covers Montgomery County.

A constitutional lawyer, Raskin became nationally prominent after his involvement with Trump’s second impeachment trial and the January 6th Select Committee.

The congressman has represented District 8 since 2018.

Before his time in Congress, Raskin served for three terms in the Maryland State Senate.

BY ROBERT STEWART

ANNAPOLIS–Brooke Lierman is a prominent Democrat in Maryland, but lately, she has been going next door to campaign – in neighboring Pennsylvania.

“It’s the battleground state in the country,” said Lierman, who serves as Maryland’s state comptroller. “It’s my duty as an American who believes strongly that this is the most important election in my lifetime to get out, to make sure people have the information they need to vote and to share with them why I’m supporting Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.”

The true-blue state of Maryland doesn’t present much of a contest for Vice President Harris as she runs for president against Donald Trump. But Democrats and Republicans alike want to make a difference in the election, so they’re leveraging their location to help out just a few miles north.

Lierman isn’t the only Marylander politicking in Pennsylvania lately. Gov. Wes Moore has spent time for Harris in several battleground states, including Pennsylvania, and local activists are organizing bus trips northbound.

Republicans who live close to the Pennsylvania border have been out working for Trump, as well.

“We have been facilitating contact between the ground game in Pennsylvania and those interested in assisting up there as far as rallies, door to door, phone calls, et cetera,” said Jeff McBride, chairman of the Republican Central Committee of Harford County, in an email to the Capital News Service.

Harford County borders Pennsylvania. And it’s one of the counties that has consistently voted Republican, according to data analysis done by CNS on the past 50 years of presidential elections.

“Some are working directly with the arm of the Trump campaign that focuses on swing state deployment,” said McBride. “Others are teaming with local central committees in all areas of Pennsylvania from Lancaster, Oxford, York, Hanover, and as far as Pittsburgh.”

For Harris-Walz, the Democratic National Committee hosted several trips from Maryland to Pennsylvania over the weekend.

When people canvass in swing states they add a greater number of people to get out the vote efforts – a tactic that is more personal and may be more effective.

“Generally speaking, in-person contacts are the most effective means of outreach and get-out-the-vote efforts,” said Candace Turitto, a political scientist at the University of Maryland.

She said prominent political officials can impress potential voters.

“It would certainly stand out to me if a prominent governor or senator knocked on my door and personally asked me to vote,” said Turitto.

Pennsylvania is one of the key swing states both parties hope to win. The Keystone State helped Trump win in 2016 and Biden in 2020. Both presidential candidates held rallies there over the weekend.

For Lierman, the work is about being active instead of anxious.

She said she has always loved knocking on doors and helping with efforts to get out the vote.

“At the end of the day,” said Lierman, “we’ve got to run through the tape and leave no stone unturned to preserve our democracy, support women and our health, and ensure we’re creating economic opportunity for all.”