Politics & Government

Election Day Is Tuesday: See Candidates, Where To Vote In Anne Arundel County Primary

The Maryland primary election is on Tuesday. Check your candidates and polling place in Patch's Anne Arundel County voter guide.

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The 2024 Maryland primary election is on Tuesday, May 14. Here is Patch's Anne Arundel County voter guide. Campaign signs are pictured at an early voting center in Odenton on May 2.
The 2024 Maryland primary election is on Tuesday, May 14. Here is Patch's Anne Arundel County voter guide. Campaign signs are pictured at an early voting center in Odenton on May 2. (Jacob Baumgart/Patch)

ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — Crowded school board and Congressional races are central to Tuesday's 2024 Anne Arundel County primary election. The White House is also up for grabs with a rematch of the 2020 election. Maryland Circuit Court judges are again on the ballot.

Maryland's race for U.S. Senate features two prominent Democrats and a former Republican governor in the crowded field trying to replace retiring Democrat Sen. Ben Cardin.

Longtime Congressman, Democrat C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger, is retiring in the House of Representatives. That leaves several state lawmakers and a former U.S. Capitol Police officer scrambling to snatch the open seat.

Find out what's happening in Anne Arundelfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

Marylanders can vote in person, by mail or via ballot dropboxes. See all the details below.

Democrat Cindy Welch, a 79-year-old from Odenton, is "concerned about women's right to choose" to have an abortion. She is supporting President Joe Biden (D) for re-election. She still hadn't decided her Senate preference when Patch interviewed her on May 2.

Find out what's happening in Anne Arundelfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

The retired social worker is still "frightened" by the Republicans who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an effort to block Biden's election. Welch said she never saw her mother cry until that day.

"She called me when the insurrection happened, and she cried," Welch said of her mother, who died at age 99. "Her innocence was lost on Jan. 6."

Republican Rhonda Fowler, a 69-year-old from Severn, voted for former GOP President Donald Trump to return to the White House this year. She said Trump can "bring our country back to us" with his "Make America Great Again" policies. Fowler's top concern is stopping undocumented immigration at the southern border.

Fowler voted for Republican Robin Ficker, a former state delegate and a 2022 gubernatorial candidate, in the Senate primary.

"He's pretty much like Trump," Fowler said of Ficker. "He's angry. He wants things corrected."
Republican Allan Schwartz, a 76-year-old from Odenton, voted for Trump once but skipped the presidential section of his ballot this year because of the former president's indictments. Schwartz preferred Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, but the entrepreneur and former pharmaceutical executive dropped out in January.

"We had a couple good choices besides Trump, but his base and machine carried him in," Schwartz said, noting that he voted for former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in the Senate primary. "People say [Hogan] was a RINO (Republican In Name Only), but he wasn't. He knew how to work both sides."

All the candidates are listed below. Click any candidate's name to learn more about them. The nonpartisan League of Women Voters also has candidate questionnaires posted here.

How To Vote

Primary Election Day is Tuesday, May 14. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Residents must vote at their assigned polling place on Election Day. Voters can check their assigned polling place at this link.

Residents can still request a mail-in ballot in person from the State Board of Elections or their local board. Here's how:

  • If you hand deliver your request and the ballots are ready, you can pick up your mail-in ballot. You may take your mail-in ballot with you and return it by mail or you can vote it at the local board office and give it to an election official. The deadline to request a mail-in ballot in person is Election Day, May 14, 2024. Visit your local board of elections' website for hours of operation.

Mail-in ballots must be postmarked or placed in one of these dropboxes by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14.

Marylanders can update their address or register to vote at their assigned polling place on Election Day. Residents must bring their MVA-issued license, permit, ID card or change of address card. The ID can also be a paycheck, bank statement or utility bill. A government document with the voter's name and new address will also suffice.

More information about how to vote is posted here.

Anne Arundel County Board Of Education

All seven adult seats are up for election on the Anne Arundel County Board of Education. Four incumbents are seeking re-election.

Members of the school board serve four-year terms, and they can't serve more than two consecutive terms.

School board districts are the same as County Council districts. Voters can check what district they live in at this link.

School board races are nonpartisan. The candidates are not running with political parties, so any voter can participate in these elections, even if they aren't registered with a specific party.

If a district has one or two candidates, they automatically advance to the General Election. If the race has three or more candidates, the top two vote-getters from the primary advance.

District 1

District 2

District 3

District 4

District 5

District 6

District 7

U.S. Senate

Maryland will elect a successor to retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D).

Pundits think the Democratic race will come down to Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-MD District 6).

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan entered the Republican primary late in the game, but he made the race competitive in deep-blue Maryland. Hogan gives the GOP a shot at giving Maryland its first Republican U.S. senator in 37 years.

Related: Hogan Popular In Senate Race, Abortion Hurts His Chances: Patch Survey

The winner will serve a six-year term in Congress. Senators don't have term limits.

Democrats

Republicans

Libertarian

  • Mike Scott (Nominated by party to appear in the General Election only)

Other

  • Nancy Wallace (Seeking the nomination to appear in the General Election only)

Unaffiliated

U.S. House of Representatives

Anne Arundel County voters will help decide a crowded race in Congressional District 3. With John Sarbanes (D) not seeking a 10th term, the door opened for state lawmakers eyeing a promotion to Capitol Hill.

State Sen. Sarah Elfreth (District 30), Del. Mark Chang (District 32) and Del. Mike Rogers (District 32) are some of the Democrats looking to move up from the Maryland General Assembly.

Another big-name Democratic candidate is Harry Dunn, a former U.S. Capitol Police officer who defended the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer (D) is running for another term in Congressional District 5, where he's served since 1981. Though Hoyer stepped down as House majority leader last year, he hopes to continue his run in Congress.

U.S. representatives serve two-year terms. There are no term limits.

Voters can check their Congressional district at this link.

Congressional District 3

Democrats

Republicans

Congressional District 5

Democrats

Republican

Judicial Circuit 5 (Anne Arundel County)

Maryland Circuit Court judges hear major civil cases and serious criminal cases like those requiring a jury trial. Circuit Courts can decide appeals from the District Court.

A nominating commission recommends several names to fill vacancies, and the governor decides which person gets the position.

Newly appointed judges must run for election in the first election that's at least one year after the vacancy occurred. Attorneys who are members of the Maryland Bar can run against a newly-appointed or sitting judge.

Candidates run on both parties' primary ballots.

Circuit Court judges then serve 15-year terms before they must seek re-election. There is no term limit. Circuit court judges must retire at 70 years old.

President

The presidential election is widely predicted to be a rematch between current President Joe Biden (D) and former President Donald Trump (R). They are both seeking their second and final four-year term.

Democrats

Republicans

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Related:Maryland Elections 2024Patch Exclusives

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