After a week of early voting, Tuesday, June 23 is the final day for voting in the Maryland Primary. The stakes are high for both parties a gubernatorial, state representatives, U.S. Senate and Congressional and other state office nominations will be decided.
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For the state's Democrats, there is no decision when it comes to the Governor's race. Although strongly criticized because of the state's poor financial management and scandals as well as some questions regarding his truthfulness about his past, Governor Wes Moore will be the Democrat candidate. In most other cases, Dem incumbents have had very little to worry about in the primary.
Not so for Republicans. In the Governor's race, three candidates have been fighting it out for months. Dan Cox, Ed Hale and John Myrick are the most recognized and have garnered the most support from potential Republican voters. Interestingly enough, it's the Democrat party who wants to determine who the front runner is by running attack ads which pit Hale against Cox and vice versa. Many say this is a repeat of the 2022 election where Dems staged a faux attack on Cox, depicting him as a "MAGA" Republican in order to help him defeat Larry Hogan backed candidate Kelly Shultz. They used reverse psychology and it worked. Cox was the nominee but lost to Moore by over 30 points.
This year, each of the three Republican candidates have their strengths and weaknesses. For Hale his strength is name recognition, business experience and money; his weakness is his recent change from being a lifelong Democrat who worked for the election of Martin O'Malley to Republican. Cox's strength is his reputation as a strong MAGA conservative; his weakness is his huge loss in 2022. Myrick's strength is his ability to actively and specifically address state problems and solutions; his weakness is a lack of funds and charisma.
Debate about the three among conservative camps online has often been vitriolic and has created a split in the party. In Talbot specifically, the Republican Central Committee supported Hale early on in his candidacy and recently voted to endorse him in the primary.
As for local elections, the Dems once again have it easy since they have five nominations for county council, therefore negating the need for a primary battle. Republicans have six candidates, Chuck Callahan, Frank Gunsallus, Christian Mackendrick, Lynn Mielke, Dave Stepp, and Wade Strickland. Again, early in the primary, the Republican Central Committee endorsed five of the candidates, leaving incumbent Lynn Mielke off the list, making the primary vitally decisive. We published the Talbot County Republican Central Committee press release earlier in the Spring:
Mielke reportedly sent a letter of complaint to the Maryland Republican Party regarding the endorsement. We do not have a copy of that letter. However, the following letter published in the TALBOT SPY highlights Mielke's complaints:
Letter to Editor: A Call for Fairness in the Republican Primary - Talbot Spy
Ultimately, the voters will decide.
Other positions in the primary are mostly uncontested.
So far, turnout for this primary election is the strongest in the state percentage wise with 9.07 % of eligible voters participating.
Maryland Early Voting Exceeds 185,000 Ballots, Outpaces 2022 Primary – Conduit Street
Here is the party breakdown of the voting in the first six days: (all at the Easton Volunteer Fire Department)
1,303 total voters
Republicans: 753
Democrats: 550
Primary voting continues Tuesday, June 23 at individual voting precincts as well.
Voters can find their precinct locations here:
Board of Elections - Talbot County, Maryland
The only positions not up for a vote in the primary are school board races, which are non-partisan. They will be decided in November.
