Maryland voters approve US House redistricting measure, elect Jawando to Montgomery County’s top office

Follow WTOP’s team coverage of Election 2026 online, on air at 103.5 FM or on the WTOP News app.

Council member Will Jawando was elected to Montgomery County’s top office.

Jawando had a commanding lead over Republican Esther Wells.

He had a heart attack in September, but he resumed his campaign for county executive in early October.

Democrat Adrian Boafo won the U.S. House seat — held by the retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer for 45 years — in an election that also saw Gov. Wes Moore defeat Republican challenger Dan Cox in a 2022 gubernatorial election rematch.

“Four years ago, we started this improbable journey together, where you all had faith in a candidate who did not come from a family that was used to making policies, but in many cases came from a family that was used to suffering the consequences of them,” Moore said in his victory speech.

Maryland voters also approved a ballot measure that paves the way for lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional maps. Democratic leaders had pushed for the ballot measure in response to the Trump administration’s efforts to redraw districts in other parts of the country

Live results

The redistricting ballot question was one of three on ballots statewide, and could have an impact on the 2028 congressional election.

According to the state constitution, legislative districts are to be compact and connected. Question 3, the redistricting amendment, clarifies that the constitutional requirements apply only to state senate and House of Delegates districts. In other words, U.S. House districts would be exempt.

Democrats currently hold seven of Maryland’s eight seats in the House, and voters again elected seven Democrats and one Republican on election night.

The district state Democrats wish to capture in a future election encompasses the Eastern Shore and parts of Baltimore County and is represented by GOP Rep. Andy Harris, an eight-term incumbent who won his reelection campaign against Democrat Dan Schwartz.

Related stories

Democrats were expected to breeze to victory in the county executive races in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

Voters in Prince George’s County also waded through a whopping 10 county-specific measures, including a proposed charter amendment that would shrink the county council from its current 11 members to nine beginning in 2031.

The candidates and issues on the Nov. 3 ballot

In addition to the races above and below, Maryland voters selected candidates in 47 state Senate districts and 47 state House of Delegates districts.

The drawing of those districts would not be affected by the redistricting question, perhaps the most controversial statewide referendum on the ballot.

Republicans said Question 3 was an effort to further “gerrymander” districts so that all eight of the state’s U.S. House districts are represented by Democrats. But it won favor with voters, though a late-September UMBC poll found little support for the measure even among voters who described themselves as Democrats.

U.S. House districts and statewide races

Incumbents won reelection to Congress in all but Maryland’s 5th District, where Rep. Steny Hoyer is stepping aside after decades in office. On Tuesday, Democrat Boafo won the seat held by Hoyer since 1981.

Hoyer endorsed Boafo, his 32-year-old former campaign manager, in the Democratic primary.

Boafo celebrated the state’s and country’s other Democratic wins as he spoke to supporters Tuesday night.

“If anyone went into tonight thinking that it’s going to be a blue wave, you are all wrong. It’s a blue tsunami,” he said.

A state delegate since 2022, Boafo said he will be the youngest person of color to represent Maryland in Congress. He previously served on the Bowie City Council and as the city’s vice mayor.

Chris Chaffee, Boafo’s Republican opponent, is a Calvert County native who ran for the U.S. Senate in the previous two elections. He was the GOP nominee for Senate in 2022 but lost to Chris Van Hollen. In 2024, he came in third in the Republican primary.

Former Gov. Larry Hogan’s father, Lawrence Hogan Sr., was the last Republican to represent the 5th District. He served in the late 1960s and early 70s.

In Maryland’s other congressional races:

• 2nd District: Democrat Johnny Olszewski defeated Republican Dave Wallace. 
• 3rd District: Democrat Sarah Elfreth won reelection against Republican Berney Flowers.
• 4th District: Democrat Glenn Ivey won his race for reelection against Republican George McDermott and the Green Party’s Sam Husseini. 
• 6th District: Democrat April McClain Delaney defeated Republican Robin Ficker and the Green Party’s Moshe Landman.
• 7th District: Democrat Kweisi Mfume defeated Republican challenger Scott Collier.
• 8th District: Democrat Jamie Raskin bested Republican Cheryl Riley and the Green Party’s Nancy Wallace. 

Maryland governor

The governor’s race was called for Moore by The Associated Press one minute after polls closed at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

“I am so humbled and honored to say, we stand here ready to lead Maryland into the future,” Moore told supporters.

The ballot lineup was a repeat of the 2022 election, when Cox won the GOP primary for governor and was endorsed by then-former President Donald Trump, only to lose to Moore with 37% of the vote.

As votes were counted late Tuesday, Cox was losing by a slightly wider margin.

Comptroller

Democrat Brooke Lierman won her reelection bid against Republican Sonya Dunn.

Attorney general

Democrat Anthony Brown defeated Republican James Rutledge III.

County elections

County executive

In Montgomery County, Democrat Will Jawando faced Republican Esther Wells and was in the lead with 78% of the votes counted as of 12:50 a.m. Wednesday.

Jawando, a 43-year-old county council member, had a heart attack on Sept. 5 during a pickup basketball game. On Sept. 29, he told reporters he was on track to a full recovery and resumed his county executive campaign in early October.

“I feel good, but I do want to be clear, I’m pacing myself,” he said.

Republicans did not run a challenger to Prince George’s County Executive Aisha Braveboy’s reelection bid, and no other candidates were listed on the ballot. However, Tonya Sweat, an independent, ran as a write-in candidate after the Maryland Supreme Court rejected her ballot access appeal.

County Council

In Prince George’s County, the two at-large seats on the county council had two candidates seeking to fill them: Democrats Sydney Harrison and Jolene Ivey. And they could be the last people to serve in those positions.

In late Tuesday counting, voters overwhelmingly favored Ballot Question B, which asked Prince George’s voters to decide whether to cut the council’s two at-large seats after the next term ends in 2030.

The charter amendment reduces the council’s membership from 11 to nine to “eliminate spending of taxpayer dollars for general and special elections for at-large members and for the compensation of the offices,” the measure stated.

In Montgomery County, four at-large seats were up for grabs and voters could choose from five candidates: Scott Evan Goldberg, Laurie-Anne Sayles, Karla Silvestre and the term-limited County Executive Marc Elrich, all Democrats; and Republican Sherwin Wells.

Frederick County sheriff

As of late Tuesday, Frederick County Sheriff Chuck Jenkins was poised to lose his reelection bid to Democrat Karl Bickel. Jenkins is a longtime supporter of law enforcement cooperation agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security. He opposed efforts to ban the agreements statewide.

Other ballot questions

Statewide referendums

In addition to the redistricting question, Maryland voters endorsed two other proposed amendments to the state constitution.

Question 1 requires the budget submitted by the governor each year to include funding for all wages, benefits, and other employment terms negotiated in state employee union contracts, whether those terms were reached through bargaining or imposed by a neutral arbitrator.

Question 2 allows a governor or commission chair to temporarily fill vacancies on the Commission on Judicial Disabilities when a member is recused or disqualified or when a member’s term expires.

County-level referendums

Voters in eight counties and Baltimore City weighed in on additional ballot measures.

In Prince George’s County, the first of 10 county-level ballot questions asked voters to allow the imposition of additional taxes and fees on “harmful” businesses, or those “deemed to have an adverse impact on community health, safety, and welfare, or County economic development.”

Question A said the businesses could include, but were not limited to, tobacco and liquor stores and self-storage facilities. With a majority of precincts reporting late Tuesday, nearly 75% of the votes counted were in favor of the charter amendment.

Another five questions sought voter approval for borrowing millions of dollars to be used to repair existing county facilities such as fire stations, libraries and roads, or design and build new ones. Each of them appeared to be heading for approval.

Frederick County voters were asked to decide whether to amend existing county executive and county council term limits. County executives are currently prohibited from serving more than two consecutive terms, and members of the county council are limited to three consecutive terms, meaning they could run again after some time had passed. The ballot question would make the two- and three-term restrictions lifetime limits.

Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.

© 2026 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.