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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.
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." |
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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 |  Chris 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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Chris 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 |
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U.S. Senate, Maryland Republican Primary, 2016
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Kathy 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 |
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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 | Ben 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" | ||||
Demographic data for Maryland
| Maryland | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|
| Total population: | 5,994,983 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 9,707 | 3,531,905 |
| 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).
