2026 Midterms State GuideMaryland
Hold on to your crab cakes and boardwalks.
- PrimaryStatewideJune 23This date has passed.
- Election DayGeneralNov. 3
Updated
Hi! It’s me, Shadrach. Apparently, I’m your civic guide today. If you’ve been complaining about how things are going (and I’ve heard you, the walls are thin), this guide will help you feel informed and able to vote in this year’s midterms. Now, hold on to your crab cakes and boardwalks, and let’s get into it.
Maryland at a glance
Maryland votes on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, for governor, all 8 U.S. House seats and three statewide ballot measures.
- Election Day
- Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026
- Voter registration
- Oct. 13: Voter registration deadline
- Early voting
- Oct. 22 to Oct. 29: Early voting period
- Governor
- 4 candidates
- U.S. House
- 8 seats
- Statewide ballot measures
- 3
Your to-do list
0 of 3 doneImportant dates
- Sept. 19Deadline for local boards to send or make available mail-in ballots to military and overseas (UOCAVA) voters This date has passed.
- Oct. 13Voter registration deadline
- Oct. 22 to Oct. 29Early voting period
- Nov. 3Election Day
What’s at stake
Maryland has a light ballot this cycle: no Senate race and no competitive governor or House races. Still, affordability is on voter’s minds. A 2026 UMBC Institute of Politics poll found 33% of voters ranked cost of living, affordability, or prices as the #1 issue facing the state today, followed by taxes, spending, or state budget (15%); politicians, Trump, federal government, or state government (15%); and economy or jobs (8%). Roughly seven in ten say that groceries, gasoline, and electric bills are less affordable now than they were a year ago, and half of voters said they are “very” or “extremely” worried about healthcare and medical costs.
Who’s on your ballot
Tap a race to see the candidates.
Maryland is choosing a governor
See whose priorities line up with yours
Here are the top priorities each candidate lists, in their own words. Pick the 3 that matter most to you. Names stay hidden until you see your results.
0 of 3 picked
Wes MooreDemocratincumbent
Top accomplishments- Jumpstarted Maryland’s economy by creating over 55k new businesses, with new establishments growing 39% faster than before the pandemic.
- Delivered record reductions in violent crime including a 44% drop in homicides and a 40% drop in non-fatal shootings.
- Invested historic amounts in public education, including a $10.2 billion investment in K-12 this year.
- Top priorities
Dan CoxRepublican- Reducing and eliminating taxes and fees by prioritizing careful spending.
- Making homeownership more affordable through down-payment assistance and tax credits for first-time/young buyers, reduced building and permitting costs for developers, expanded tax write-offs for home construction/renovation, and capping or eliminating property taxes for seniors.
- Ensuring fiscal accountability by cutting discretionary spending on non-essential projects, expediting infrastructure and road projects, and reducing state mandates and cost pass-throughs to counties.
- Top priorities
Andy EllisGreen Party- Declare climate, environment, energy, food, and water emergencies to ensure state and local governments act with urgency.
- Create a robust and deep multiparty democracy in Maryland through electoral reform, public financing, and expanded voter access.
- Create a solidarity economy by raising taxes on high earners and corporations, expanding and fully refunding the state Earned Income Tax Credit, and establishing a public state bank and support for worker cooperatives.
- Get to know ’em
Cathy WhiteWorking class party
All U.S. House of Representatives seats are up for election every two years. Find your district here.
- Shadrach’s big picture
Marylanders will elect eight candidates to represent them in the U.S. House. Democrats are expected to hold seven of those seats, and a Republican is expected to hold the other.
- Open seats
MD-5 was open because the incumbent, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D) retired.
- Competitive districts
Cook does not rank any Maryland district competitive. MD-1 is ranked solidly Republican, and MD-2 through MD-8 are ranked solidly Democrat. Candidates from both parties filed to run in all eight districts, so no district was guaranteed to either party.
Statewide ballot measures
3 to read before you go. Tap one to open it.
This amendment requires the Governor's budget to fully fund state employee union contracts (think: pay, hours, and benefits) once they're agreed to or settled by a neutral decision-maker, and sets up a process where, if the state and unions can't reach a deal on their own, that decision-maker's ruling is final.
Voting yessupports requiring the Governor’s budget to fully fund state employee union contracts once they are agreed to or settled, and making a neutral decision-maker’s ruling final when the state and unions can’t reach a deal.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping the current process, where the Governor’s budget isn’t required to fully fund those contracts and a neutral decision-maker’s ruling isn’t final.This amendment authorizes the chair of the Commission on Judicial Disabilities to appoint former members to temporarily fill empty seats or allow the governor to appoint a substitute member or extend the term of an existing member.
Voting yessupports letting the commission’s chair appoint former members to temporarily fill empty seats, or letting the governor appoint a substitute member or extend a current member’s term.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, leaving the commission without these ways to temporarily fill an empty seat.This amendment concerns redistricting (the process of drawing boundary lines that change how people vote). Maryland's constitution currently requires legislative districts to be compact, contiguous (all connected), roughly equal in population, and to respect city/county lines. This amendment would rule that those requirements would apply only to state legislative districts, not congressional ones, meaning the state constitution would no longer set any standard at all for how congressional district lines are drawn. It would also let the legislature give the Maryland Supreme Court the power to be the first (rather than the last) court to hear legal challenges to congressional maps.
Voting yessupports applying the constitution’s district requirements (compact, contiguous, roughly equal in population, respecting city/county lines) only to state legislative districts, leaving no constitutional standard for congressional maps, and letting the legislature send challenges to congressional maps straight to the Maryland Supreme Court.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping the constitution’s district requirements as they are, with no carve-out for congressional districts, and keeping the Maryland Supreme Court as the last court to hear challenges to congressional maps.
Also on the ballot
Other races Maryland voters will decide.
- Lieutenant Governor
- Attorney General
- Comptroller
- State Senate
- State House
- State Supreme Court
- Intermediate appellate courts
- School boards
- Municipal government
Whose job is it?
Ten things government does. Tap the office that does each one.
Whose job is it to…
1 of 10
Declare a state of emergency after a hurricane or flood?
Pass it on
Know someone voting in Maryland?
Send them the guide. It takes one tap, and it saves them an evening of arguing in a group chat.
A prayer for Maryland
Good Father, we pray for Marylanders as they prepare to vote. Thank You for the privilege voters have to cast their vote for the good of the Old Line State. Sharpen their attention, help them see the ballot with Your eyes, and help them vote with both conviction and humility.
May candidates campaign with integrity. Remind them that the office is not a mere prize to be won, but a profound responsibility to steward carefully. If they win, surround them with wise counsel and guide them toward decisions that serve their constituents. For those who lose, bring comfort and give them grace for their actions.
Draw near to all Marylanders tempted toward anxiety, anger, or despair. Guard their hearts with a peace that this political moment cannot give. No candidate or ballot decision usurps Your sovereignty or thwarts Your good purposes.
Amen.