Your Guide to the 2018 Elections

by Josh Averbach ‘18

 2018 is an election year, and most seniors will be eligible to vote. I know what you’re thinking: “2018 is a midterm year–who gives a crap?” Yes, politics may be a bit boring without pee tapes, FBI investigations, hand-size jokes, and disheveled but loveable socialists. Still, these “off-year” elections are really important. Here’s what you should know.

 Maryland’s primary elections are June 26, and the general election is November 6. Maryland has closed primaries, which, as you know if you payed attention in NSL, means that one can only vote in the primary of the party he or she registered for. In virtually each race I will discuss (except governor), the primary is the election; Montgomery County and Maryland as a whole are so liberal that Republicans don’t really stand a chance of winning these contests.

Governor

 Governor Larry Hogan is popular; he boasts an approval rating of about 70 percent, quite an accomplishment given that he is a Republican in one of the nation’s most Democratic states. Still, especially given the nation’s overall climate, he may face a stiff general-election challenge. But from whom? There are seven candidates–the field is wide open. Polls show three contenders: PG County Executive Rushern Baker, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, and former NAACP President Ben Jealous.

Senate

 Senator Ben Cardin–pretty much a standard Democrat–is up for reelection this year. While he is likely to cruise to victory, there is one oddity in this election: Chelsea Manning, a transgender former military prisoner convicted of leaking sensitive information, is challenging Cardin from the left in the Democratic Primary. But she may not have a shot; a late-February poll from Goucher College found her trailing Cardin 61-17.

 House of Representatives

 This one requires some explaining. One would think that a town as small as Olney would be entirely in one congressional district. But, because Maryland has been completely gerrymandered (shameless plug: I wrote an article about this a couple issues ago that you should totally check out), us Olney residents are lucky enough to be at the crossroads of districts 3, 6, and 8. If you don’t know, you’ll have to do some research to figure out which you’re in. In districts 3 and 8, the incumbents, Democrats John Sarbanes and Jamie Raskin, respectively, are facing primary challenges but are likely to win reelection (Still, I’d encourage you to figure out whether one of your representative’s opponents more accurately reflects your views). In district 6, however, the incumbent, Democrat John Sarbanes, is running for president in 2020 (he doesn’t appear to be contender) and will not seek reelection. That race is wideopen. I’m not going to go into details about that race (I’d lose your attention, in the off chance that I still have it), but you should do some digging if you live in that district.

State Senate

 Assuming you live in the Olney area, you are very likely in District 14 (state legislative districts, of which there are 47, each with one senator and three delegates, are different than national House of Representatives districts). There is only one primary candidate in both parties. Democratic incumbent Craig Zucker will face, and presumably beat, Republican Robert Drozd in November. If you live in the far South or far West end of Olney, it is possible you live in district 19. There, Democrat Bill Kramer will run unopposed in both the primary and general elections. Nothing says “democracy in action” like unopposed elections.

State House of Delegates

 In the Maryland House of Delegates’ nonsensical election mechanism, each party’s primary produces three winners, and the three leading vote-getters among those six candidates in the general election win. In District 14, incumbents Anne Kaiser, Eric Leudtke, and Pamela Queen are all running for reelection against one Democrat–Paul Ransom– and will face three Republicans in the general election. In District 19, only two incumbents are seeking reelection, and there are eight democrats and three Republicans running. This is another election that I will not expound on here, and I would encourage anyone in that district to try and learn a bit more.

Montgomery County Executive

Current county Exec Isiah “Ike” Leggett is leaving the office, and the race to replace him includes six Democrats and one Republican (it will almost certainly go to a Democrat). This race is tough to predict, but the frontrunner may be Marc Elrich, who is currently on the county council and is seen by many as more of a bona fide progressive than his opponents. Other potential contenders include, but are not limited to, former Rockville Mayor Rose Krasnow and healthcare executive David Blair.

Montgomery County Council

 District 4, Olney’s county-council district, has just two candidates. One, Nancy Navarro, is a decorated county-council veteran with strong name-recognition and a decorated record of advocating for progressive policies on issues such as minimum-wage laws, gun control, and marijuana decriminalization. The other candidate, Jay Graney, is a Marine Corps veteran new to Montgomery County politics. The council also has four at-large seats chosen by the electorate as a whole, irrespective of district. There are 38 (!) candidates in that race, and, frankly, I’m not even going to try to make sense of it.

 Choosing between these candidates likely requires learning more about them in order to make an informed decision. Unfortunately, it’s not always easy; turn on CNN, and you’re unlikely to find Wolf Blitzer and his panel debating whether Montgomery County should allow a development to be built in Olney. Still, there are places to go. A few sources I’d recommend are The Seventh State, Ballotpedia, Bethesda Magazine, and the metro section of The Washington Post. Once you’re sufficiently well-informed, go out and vote.