Besides the high-profile governor’s race, the results of Tuesday’s primary will also determine nominees for the position of Maryland’s top law enforcement official and tax collector.
In the comptroller race, Del. Brooke Lierman, who has served in the General Assembly since 2015, defeated Bowie Mayor Tim Adams, the Associated Press projected shortly before 11:30 p.m.
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Early voting results showed Lierman leading Adams 64% to 36%.
Lierman, who represents the 46th District, which includes Baltimore City, had wracked up a slew of endorsements from state lawmakers.
Lierman will face Harford County Executive Barry Glassman, who is running unopposed for the Republican nomination for comptroller.
In a tweet before the AP called the race, Adams said voting every vote is a core democratic principle.
“Tonight is only the start of that process for Maryland. Once every vote is counted, we will accept the decision, and regardless of the outcome work to ensure that Democrats are elected up and down the ballot in November,” he said.
The comptroller office, which serves as the state’s top tax collector, is being left open by Peter Franchot, who served in the role for 15 years, and is making a bid for governor.
Attorney general race: Brown projected winner
In the race for attorney general, Rep. Anthony Brown, a three-term representative who previously served as Maryland’s lieutenant governor, defeated retired Maryland judge Katie Curran O’Malley for the Democratic nomination, the Associated Press projected early Wednesday morning.
Based on vote totals as of 4:15 a.m. Wednesday — which doesn’t include any mail-in ballots — Brown was leading Curran O’Malley — 59.6% to 40.4%.
Before Brown was named the projected winner, Curran O’Malley said in a statement on Twitter she was “optimistic” she will win the primary but that many votes remain uncounted.
“Now more than ever, we owe it to every person who participated in the electoral process to make sure that their vote is counted and that their voice is heard,” she said.
While the vote counting is underway, unofficial results Tuesday night will not include any votes cast via mail-in ballots. Those ballots will start being counted Thursday morning, meaning it could be several days — or weeks, if races are particularly close — before results are known.
A Goucher College poll in late June showed Brown and Curran O’Malley essentially tied at about 30% of the vote, with another 35% of likely voters still undecided.
Brown and Curran O’Malley largely share the same positions on key issues, such as protecting abortion rights and combating gun crimes, but Curran O’Malley points to her two decades on the bench as a sitting judge as a key differentiator.
Brown had racked up a string of endorsements from House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and two fellow Maryland congressmen, Reps. Kweisi Mfume and David Trone. O’Malley, the wife of former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, is endorsed by former Maryland Sen. Barbara Mikulski and The Washington Post.
On the Republican side, Michael Anthony Peroutka, a controversial former Anne Arundel County Council member, is leading former Montgomery County Board of Elections president Jim Shalleck — 58% to 42%.
Peroutka has drawn criticism for his former ties to an Alabama-based organization called the League of the South, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has classified as a hate group. Peroutka has also said, if elected, he will investigate Maryland’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan’s COVID-19 policies.
