What to watch
- Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D), a potential 2028 presidential candidate, is in a rematch against Republican Dan Cox, a former state delegate who lost to Moore four years ago.
- Voters will be asked to approve a redistricting measure that would effectively give Democrats a freer hand in drawing congressional districts for the 2028 election cycle and beyond.
State control
Democrats hold supermajorities in both chambers of the Maryland legislature and traditionally dominate politics in the state with districts drawn to their advantage and a lopsided voter registration edge.
Many of the state’s biggest races were determined during the June Democratic primary.
But Moore has put cash raised for his reelection campaign into recruiting and boosting Democrats trying to flip some red-leaning districts, which, if successful, would give him an even bigger margin for his agenda if he secured a second term.
Turnout for Tuesday night’s elections will help determine Moore’s political future and whether Democrats can redistrict in 2028 to eliminate the one Republican-leaning House district.
U.S. House
Rep. Andy Harris (R), chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, faces an ideological and generational challenge from Dan Schwartz in the Republican-leaning district on the state’s Eastern Shore.
Harris, a 69-year-old former anesthesiologist running for a ninth term, represents a district Donald Trump won with 57 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential race, the only congressional district Trump carried in Maryland.
Schwartz, 38, a former state bank policy expert, is a first-time candidate.
Ballot Question No. 3
Maryland voters will decide whether to loosen rules about drawing congressional boundaries. If passed, the ballot measure would permit state lawmakers to more easily redistrict for the 2028 elections and beyond.
The proposed amendment to the Maryland Constitution makes clear that existing rules about districts apply only to state legislative districts, not congressional ones. The language changes a provision of the state’s constitution used by a judge to throw out Democrats’ last attempt to draw a map that all but guaranteed that all eight Maryland congressional seats would be won by Democrats.
If approved, the measure would effectively allow Democrats, with supermajorities in Annapolis, to oust Harris.
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