With control of the U.S. House of Representatives up for grabs Tuesday, all eyes in Maryland were on the 6th District, which was shaping up to be among the closest races in the state.
Republican challenger Neil Parrott, a long-time state delegate had opened up a narrow lead over Democrat David Trone, who’s running for a third term.
As of early Wednesday, with several thousand mail-in ballots still to count, Parrott was leading Trone by 51% to 49%. The vote margin was about 4,500 votes.
In more reliably Democratic terrain, the Associated Press projected two-term representative Jamie Raskin had cruised to reelection in the 8th District, along with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer in the 5th District and Democratic newcomer Glenn Ivey in the 4th District.
All eight House seats in Maryland were on the ballot. Heading into Election Day, Democrats had a 7-1 advantage.
In one of the earliest race calls of the night — shortly after polls closed at 8 p.m. — the Associated Press projected Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen had won reelection to his Senate seat.
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- 2022 Virginia Election Results
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- 2022 Maryland Election Results
The race in the 6th congressional district is a rematch of the 2020 race. Trone defeated Parrott two years ago by 20 points, but congressional redistricting shifted the district’s border. It now includes only a small portion of solidly blue Montgomery County as well as all of Frederick, Allegany, Garrett and Washington counties.
The results could hinge on mail-in ballots, and there appears to be several thousand more of those to count.
Unofficial results posted early Wednesday morning indicated a total of about 13,200 mail-in ballots had already been counted as of Election Day. However, data from the Maryland State Board of Elections indicates more than 72,000 mail-in ballots were sent to voters and, as of Tuesday evening, more than 46,300 had been returned.
Tens of thousands of ballots are still outstanding, and it may take a few days for every vote to be counted. But I’m confident that I’m headed back to Congress to keep fighting for the people of the 6th District.
— David Trone (@davidjtrone) November 9, 2022
Though Democrats did better than expected, Republicans were increasingly favored to win the House, and a Parrott victory could ultimately help tip control of the House into GOP hands.
On the campaign trail, the two candidates sparred over the economy, federal spending and immigration, with Trone calling Parrott too extreme and Parrott hitting Trone on the economy, inflation and government spending.
Other House races in the DC area
In the three other congressional districts in the D.C. area, Democrats cruised to victory.
In the 4th District, which includes a large swath of Prince George’s and a small sliver of Montgomery County, Democrat Glenn Ivey was the projected winner with nearly 90% of the vote against Republican Jeff Warner.
In the 5th District, Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, one of the current longest-serving members of Congress, defeated Republican Chris Palombi, AP projected.
In the 8th District, Democrat Jamie Raskin, who was first elected in 2016, was projected to defeat Republican Gregory Coll and Libertarian Andrés Garcia with more than 76% of the vote.
Senate: Van Hollen reelected
Overall control of the U.S. Senate is also up for grabs, but is seen as more of a tossup.
One of Maryland’s two Senate seats is on the ballot, but incumbent Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat who was first elected in 2016, was the projected winner shortly after polls closed.
Van Hollen was favored against Republican challenger Chris Chaffee.
