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Maryland, U.S. Senate

Voters in Maryland elected one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 6, 2018.

The election filled the Class 1 Senate seat held by Ben Cardin (D). He was first elected in 2006.



Campaign finance

The chart below contains data from financial reports submitted to the Federal Election Commission.

Name Party Receipts* Disbursements** Cash on hand Date
Ben Cardin Democratic Party $4,067,153 $3,509,770 $1,261,723 As of December 31, 2018
Neal Simon Independent $2,110,224 $2,110,122 $101 As of December 31, 2018
Tony Campbell Republican Party $209,098 $207,492 $1,604 As of December 31, 2018
Arvin Vohra Libertarian Party $0 $0 $0 Data not available

Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2018.

* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee."
** According to the FEC, a disbursement "is a purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit or gift of money or anything of value to influence a federal election," plus other kinds of payments not made to influence a federal election.


Election history

2016

rated Maryland's U.S. Senate race as safely Democratic. In the U.S. Senate race in Maryland, incumbent Barbara Mikulski chose to retire, leaving the seat open in 2016. The election attracted a large number of Democratic, Republican and independent candidates. Chris Van Hollen (D) defeated Kathy Szeliga (R), Arvin Vohra (Libertarian), Margaret Flowers (Green), and several write-in candidates in the general election on November 8, 2016. Van Hollen defeated nine other Democrats to win the nomination, and Szeliga defeated 13 other Republicans in the primary. The primary elections took place on April 26, 2016.

U.S. Senate, Maryland General Election, 2016

Party Candidate Vote % Votes
Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngChris Van Hollen 60.9% 1,659,907
Republican Kathy Szeliga 35.7% 972,557
Green Margaret Flowers 3.3% 89,970
N/A Write-in 0.1% 3,736
Total Votes 2,726,170
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections

U.S. Senate, Maryland Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngChris Van Hollen 53.2% 470,320
Donna Edwards 38.9% 343,620
Freddie Dickson 1.7% 14,856
Theresa Scaldaferri 1.5% 13,178
Violet Staley 1.2% 10,244
Lih Young 1% 8,561
Charles Smith 0.9% 7,912
Ralph Jaffe 0.8% 7,161
Blaine Taylor 0.7% 5,932
Ed Tinus 0.3% 2,560
Total Votes 884,344
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections

U.S. Senate, Maryland Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngKathy Szeliga 35.6% 135,337
Chris Chaffee 13.7% 52,066
Chrys Kefalas 9.6% 36,340
Richard Douglas 7.6% 29,007
Dave Wallace 6.1% 23,226
Sean Connor 5.7% 21,727
Lynn Richardson 5.5% 20,792
John Graziani 4.4% 16,722
Greg Holmes 4.3% 16,148
Mark McNicholas 2.6% 9,988
Joseph Hooe 2.2% 8,282
Anthony Seda 1% 3,873
Richard Shawver 0.8% 3,155
Garry Yarrington 0.8% 2,988
Total Votes 379,651
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections

2012

On November 6, 2012, Ben Cardin (D) won re-election in the general election. He defeated a host of challengers, with Dan Bongino (R) coming in second.

U.S. Senate, Maryland General Election, 2012

Party Candidate Vote % Votes
Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngBen Cardin Incumbent 56% 1,474,028
Republican Dan Bongino 26.3% 693,291
Libertarian Dean Ahmad 1.2% 32,252
Independent Rob Sobhani 16.4% 430,934
Democratic Lih Young (Write-in) 0% 163
Republican Mary Podlesak (Write-in) 0% 21
Independent Brandy Baker 0% 151
Independent Ed Tinus 0% 48
N/A Other Write-ins 0.1% 2,346
Total Votes 2,633,234
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections "U.S. Senator"

Demographics

Demographic data for Maryland

MarylandU.S.
Total population:5,994,983316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):9,7073,531,905
Gender
Female:51.6%50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:57.6%73.6%
Black/African American:29.5%12.6%
Asian:6%5.1%
Native American:0.3%0.8%
Pacific Islander:0%0.2%
Two or more:3%3%
Hispanic/Latino:9%17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:89.4%86.7%
College graduation rate:37.9%29.8%
Income
Median household income:$74,551$53,889
Persons below poverty level:10.7%11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015)
for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Maryland.

As of July 2016, Maryland's three largest cities were Baltimore (pop. est. 611,648), Columbia (pop. est. 103,439), and Germantown (pop. est. 90,494).