2018 United States Senate election in Maryland

2018 United States Senate election in Maryland
Turnout	58.17% 10.03 pp
	Cardin: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Campbell: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90%; Tie: 40–50% No data
U.S. senator before election; Ben Cardin; Democratic	Elected U.S. Senator ; Ben Cardin; Democratic

The 2018 United States Senate election in Maryland took place on November 6, 2018, in order to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Maryland. It was held concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Cardin was re-elected to a third and ultimately final term by a landslide margin of almost 35 points, the largest margin in any election for this seat since Maryland began holding direct elections for Senate in 1913.

The primary election for the Senate race was held on June 26, 2018.^[1]

The incumbent, Ben Cardin, won the Democratic Party primary. In the general election, Cardin was reelected to a third term.^[2] Tony Campbell, a professor of political science at Towson University and former Army Chaplain, won the Republican Party primary. If elected, Campbell would have become Maryland's first African-American U.S. Senator.^[3]^[4] Businessman Neal Simon ran as an independent and Arvin Vohra was the Libertarian Party nominee in the general election. There were also several official write-in candidates.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Ben Cardin, incumbent U.S. Senator^[5]^[6]
Erik Jetmir^[5]^[6]
Chelsea Manning, whistleblower, convicted of Espionage Act crimes, former U.S. Army soldier^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]
Marcia H. Morgan,^[5] of Montgomery County^[9]
Jerome Segal, political activist and philosopher^[5]^[6]
Richard "Rikki" Vaughn,^[5]^[6] of Baltimore^[10]
Debbie "Rica" Wilson, candidate for MD-05 in 2016,^[5] of White Plains^[10]
Lih Young, perennial candidate,^[5] of Montgomery County^[9]

Declined

John Delaney, U.S. Representative (running for President in 2020)^[11]
Donna Edwards, former U.S. Representative and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2016 (running for Prince George's County Executive)^[12]
Elijah Cummings, U.S. Representative^[13]
Heather Mizeur, former state delegate^[13]
John Sarbanes, U.S. Representative^[13]

Endorsements

Ben Cardin

Organizations

AFSCME Maryland Council 3^[14]
Baltimore Afro-American^[15]
League of Conservation Voters^[16]
Natural Resources Defense Council Action Fund^[17]
Sierra Club^[18]

Chelsea Manning

Individuals

Natalie Wynn, YouTube creator ^[19]
Jimmy Dore, comedian and political commentator^[20]
Linda Sarsour, activist and Co-chair of the Women's March^[21]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ben Cardin	Chelsea Manning	Other	Undecided
Goucher College	February 12–18, 2018	409	± 4.8%	61%	17%	3%	19%

Results

Democratic primary results^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ben Cardin (incumbent)	447,441	79.24%
	Democratic	Chelsea Manning	34,611	6.13%
	Democratic	Jerome Segal	20,027	3.55%
	Democratic	Debbie Wilson	18,953	3.36%
	Democratic	Marcia H. Morgan	16,047	2.84%
	Democratic	Lih Young	9,874	1.75%
	Democratic	Richard Vaughn	9,480	1.68%
	Democratic	Erik Jetmir	8,259	1.46%
Total votes			564,692	100.00%

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Tony Campbell,^[5] of Baltimore County,^[9] political science faculty member at Towson University^[23]
Chris Chaffee,^[5] candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2016^[24]
Evan M. Cronhardt,^[5] of Anne Arundel County
Nnabu Eze,^[5] of Baltimore County,^[9] Green nominee for MD-03 in 2016^[25]
John Graziani, candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2016 and candidate for MD-04 in 2014^[5]
Christina J. Grigorian, attorney^[5]
Albert Howard^[5]
Bill Krehnbrink, perennial candidate^[5]
Gerald I. Smith, Jr., conspiracy theorist,^[5] of Cecil County^[9]
Blaine Taylor, perennial candidate,^[5] of Baltimore County^[9]
Brian Charles Vaeth, perennial candidate^[5]

Withdrew

Sam Faddis, former CIA officer and candidate for MD-05 in 2016^[26]^[27]

Declined

Larry Hogan, Governor of Maryland since 2015 (running for reelection)

Endorsements

Tony Campbell

State legislators^[28]

Gail H. Bates, state senator
Robert G. Cassilly, state senator
Michael Hough, state senator
J. B. Jennings, state senator
Edward R. Reilly, state senator
Johnny Ray Salling, state senator
Wendell R. Beitzel, state delegate
Andrew Cassilly, state delegate
Joe Cluster, state delegate
Barrie Ciliberti, state delegate
Ron George, former state delegate
Glen Glass, state delegate
Robin L. Grammer, Jr., state delegate
Nic Kipke, state delegate
Susan W. Krebs, state delegate
Susan K. McComas, state delegate
Pat McDonough, state delegate
Richard W. Metzgar, state delegate
Christian Miele, state delegate
Neil Parrott, state delegate
Chris West, state delegate
William J. Wivell, state delegate

Individuals

Ellen Sauerbrey, former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration^[29]
Joseph E. Schmitz, former DoD Inspector General^[30]
Michael Steele, former RNC Chairman and former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland^[31]

Sam Faddis (withdrew)

State Senators

Edward R. Reilly, state senator^[32]
Robert Cassilly, state senator^[32]

Individuals

Paul Becker, retired United States Navy admiral^[32]

Results

Republican primary results^[22]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Tony Campbell	51,426	29.22%
	Republican	Chris Chaffee	42,328	24.05%
	Republican	Christina J. Grigorian	30,786	17.49%
	Republican	John Graziani	15,435	8.77%
	Republican	Blaine Taylor	8,848	5.03%
	Republican	Gerald I. Smith, Jr.	7,564	4.30%
	Republican	Brian Vaeth	5,411	3.08%
	Republican	Evan M. Cronhardt	4,445	2.53%
	Republican	Bill Krehnbrink	3,606	2.05%
	Republican	Nnabu Eze	3,442	1.96%
	Republican	Albert Howard	2,720	1.55%
Total votes			175,981	100.00%

Libertarian Party

Candidates

Declared

Arvin Vohra, vice-chair of the Libertarian National Committee and perennial candidate,^[33] of Montgomery County^[9]

Independents

Candidates

Declared

Michael B Puskar, property manager
Edward Shlikas, home care compliance manager^[34]
Neal Simon, businessman^[35]^[36]

General election

Candidates

Ben Cardin, Incumbent (D)
Tony Campbell, Professor at Towson University (R)
Arvin Vohra, vice-chair of the Libertarian National Committee (L)
Neal Simon, businessman (I)
Michael B Puskar, property manager (I)

Endorsements

Ben Cardin (D)

Organizations

Tony Campbell (R)

U.S. Executive Branch officials

Ben Carson, United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development^[39]

State Senators^[28]

Gail H. Bates, state senator
Robert G. Cassilly, state senator
Michael Hough, state senator
J. B. Jennings, state senator
Edward R. Reilly, state senator
Johnny Ray Salling, state senator

State Delegates

Wendell R. Beitzel, state delegate
Andrew Cassilly, state delegate
Joe Cluster, state delegate
Barrie Ciliberti, state delegate
Ron George, former state delegate
Glen Glass, state delegate
Robin L. Grammer, Jr., state delegate
Nic Kipke, state delegate
Susan W. Krebs, state delegate
Susan K. McComas, state delegate
Pat McDonough, state delegate
Richard W. Metzgar, state delegate
Christian Miele, state delegate
Neil Parrott, state delegate
Chris West, state delegate
William J. Wivell, state delegate

Individuals

Ellen Sauerbrey, former Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration^[29]
Joseph E. Schmitz, former DoD Inspector General^[30]
Michael Steele, former RNC Chairman and former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland^[31]

Organizations

NRA Political Victory Fund^[40]^[41]
National Right to Life^[42]
Maryland Right to Life^[43]
Family Research Council^[44]
National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors^[43]

Neal Simon (I)

Organizations

Unite America^[45]

Individuals

Larry Hogan, Governor of Maryland^[46]
Isaac Slade, musician^[47]

Debates

On October 7, 2018, Cardin, independent candidate Neal Simon, and Republican candidate Tony Campbell participated in the sole televised debate of the campaign.^[48]^[49]^[50]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report^[51]	Safe D	October 26, 2018
Inside Elections^[52]	Safe D	November 1, 2018
Sabato's Crystal Ball^[53]	Safe D	November 5, 2018
Fox News^[54]	Likely D	July 9, 2018
CNN^[55]	Safe D	July 12, 2018
RealClearPolitics^[56]	Safe D	June 2018

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ben Cardin (D)	Tony Campbell (R)	Neal Simon (I)	Other	Undecided
Gonzales Research (I-Simon)	October 1–6, 2018	806	± 3.5%	49%	22%	18%	–	11%
Goucher College	September 11–16, 2018	472	± 4.5%	56%	17%	8%	1%^[57]	14%

Results

2018 United States Senate election in Maryland^[58]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Ben Cardin (incumbent)	1,491,614	64.86%	+8.88%
	Republican	Tony Campbell	697,017	30.31%	+3.98%
	Independent	Neal Simon	85,964	3.74%	N/A
	Libertarian	Arvin Vohra	22,943	1.00%	-0.22%
	Write-in		2,351	0.10%	N/A
Total votes			2,299,889	100.00%	N/A
	Democratic hold

Results by county


County	Ben Cardin Democratic		Tony Campbell Republican		Neal Simon Independent		Arvin Vohra Libertarian		Write-ins Independent		Margin		Total Votes Cast
County	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	#	%	Total Votes Cast
Allegany	8597	36.82%	13790	59.06%	746	3.19%	196	0.84%	20	0.09%	-5193	-22.24%	23349
Anne Arundel	122910	53.74%	92401	40.40%	10528	4.60%	2674	1.17%	190	0.08%	30509	13.34%	228703
Baltimore (City)	160370	86.95%	16184	8.77%	5596	3.03%	1917	1.04%	375	0.20%	144186	78.17%	184442
Baltimore (County)	197530	60.85%	106275	32.74%	17192	5.30%	3313	1.02%	290	0.09%	91255	28.11%	324600
Calvert	17372	44.51%	19901	50.99%	1273	3.26%	458	1.17%	27	0.07%	-2529	-6.48%	39031
Caroline	4265	37.73%	6474	57.27%	451	3.99%	105	0.93%	9	0.08%	-2209	-19.54%	11304
Carroll	25986	34.89%	42479	57.03%	5020	6.74%	966	1.30%	38	0.05%	-16493	-22.14%	74489
Cecil	13237	38.05%	19851	57.06%	1267	3.64%	412	1.18%	24	0.07%	-6614	-19.01%	34791
Charles	44874	69.54%	17872	27.69%	1284	1.99%	462	0.72%	41	0.06%	27002	41.84%	64533
Dorchester	5928	48.23%	5864	47.71%	397	3.23%	95	0.77%	8	0.07%	64	0.52%	12292
Frederick	55256	51.67%	47038	43.99%	3242	3.03%	1292	1.21%	105	0.10%	8218	7.69%	106933
Garrett	2817	25.75%	7801	71.31%	216	1.97%	98	0.90%	7	0.06%	-4984	-45.56%	10939
Harford	45921	41.63%	56749	51.45%	6185	5.61%	1352	1.23%	100	0.09%	-10828	-9.82%	110307
Howard	96067	66.97%	38797	27.05%	6621	4.62%	1819	1.27%	144	0.10%	57270	39.92%	143448
Kent	4588	53.49%	3490	40.69%	411	4.79%	86	1.00%	3	0.03%	1098	12.80%	8578
Montgomery	314568	77.29%	74924	18.41%	13333	3.28%	3655	0.90%	517	0.13%	239644	58.88%	406997
Prince George's	286975	90.10%	24140	7.58%	5031	1.58%	2031	0.64%	346	0.11%	262835	82.52%	318523
Queen Anne's	8463	37.21%	12813	56.34%	1230	5.41%	232	1.02%	6	0.03%	-4350	-19.13%	22744
St. Mary's	16849	41.93%	21393	53.24%	1361	3.39%	559	1.39%	18	0.04%	-4544	-11.31%	40180
Somerset	3652	47.09%	3882	50.06%	172	2.22%	45	0.58%	4	0.05%	-230	-2.97%	7755
Talbot	9054	50.12%	8050	44.56%	796	4.41%	154	0.85%	12	0.07%	1004	5.56%	18066
Washington	19956	39.59%	28319	56.18%	1598	3.17%	507	1.01%	26	0.05%	-8363	-16.59%	50406
Wicomico	16539	49.09%	15644	46.43%	1133	3.36%	351	1.04%	24	0.07%	895	2.66%	33691
Worcester	9840	41.37%	12886	54.17%	881	3.70%	164	0.69%	17	0.07%	-3046	-12.80%	23788
Total	1491614	64.86%	697017	30.31%	85964	3.74%	22943	1.00%	2351	0.10%	794597	34.55%	2299889

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Frederick (largest municipality: Frederick)
Talbot (largest municipality: Easton)

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Calvert (largest municipality: Chesapeake Beach)
Somerset (largest municipality: Princess Anne)

References

External links

Official campaign websites

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2018 United States Senate election in Maryland

Contents

Democratic primary

Candidates

Declared

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Declared

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Results

Libertarian Party

Candidates

Declared

Independents

Candidates

Declared

General election

Candidates

Endorsements

Debates

Predictions

Polling

Results

Results by county

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

See also

References

External links