In Maryland, Dems Capitalized on Mail-in Voting – But Repubs Didn’t

Nathan Schwartz and Brandon Schwartzberg, Capital News Service • June 6, 2023

As the 2020 presidential election neared, then-President Donald Trump warned all Americans — especially Republicans — about the supposed dangers he saw in early and absentee voting by mail.

“As far as the ballots are concerned, it’s a disaster,” he said during a September 2020 presidential debate, repeating a debunked argument that such ballots lead to election fraud.

But Trump, who lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, was correct in one way. Mail-in voting was a disaster — for Maryland Republicans in 2022.

In five major races in the state, Republican candidates were ahead on Election Night only to see their leads slip away over the next few days as mail-in ballots were counted. Five conservatives lost their leads, too, in nonpartisan races for school board seats in the state.

Given what happened, a growing number of Republicans now say they must embrace mail-in voting to give themselves better odds in the future.

“I'm not aware of any efforts to help Republicans vote by mail, but on the Democrat side, there were a lot of efforts — and I think we're seeing that in the results,” said Del. Neil Parrott, a Republican who led in his race for the District 6 U.S. House seat on Election Night only to lose to the incumbent Democrat, Rep. David Trone, when the mail-in votes were counted.

Flipping the results

Amid the covid-19 pandemic, early voting and mail-in ballots became common ways to cast ballots in Maryland and across the country.

With over two million ballots cast in Maryland in the November 2020 general election, over 900,000 were cast during early voting or mailed in, state elections records show.

But in Maryland, the mail-in ballots could not be counted until after Election Day. That’s because then-Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed a bill that would have allowed for the early counting of mail-in ballots. Hogan said the election reform bill didn’t go far enough to prevent voter fraud.

The requirement that mail-in votes be counted after Election Day, combined with the Democrats’ embrace of mail-in voting, made for some misleading preliminary results on Election Night, for example:

In the race for Anne Arundel County executive, Republican County Councilwoman Jessica Haire led incumbent Democrat Steuart Pittman by 10,863 votes on Election Night. But once all the mail-in ballots were counted, Pittman won because 42,156 of the 58,504 mail-in votes went his way.

In the race to represent U.S. House District 6, Parrott led by over 11,000 votes just after Election Day, but Trone won by 24,524 votes because the Democratic incumbent received about 33,000 more mail-in votes.

In the election to represent District 33 in the Maryland State Senate, Republican Del. Sid Saab led Democrat Dawn Gile by 1,636 votes, but Gile received 7,328 more mail-in votes than Saab and won by over 6,000 votes.

In the race for Frederick County executive, Republican State Sen. Michael Hough led Democrat Jessica Fitzwater by over 11,000 votes just after Election Day. But Fitzwater received 10,868 more mail-in votes than her opponent. Paired with a 1,201-vote advantage in provisional ballots, Fitzwater defeated Hough by 989 votes.

In the election to represent District 9A in the Maryland House of Delegates, four candidates competed for two seats. Incumbent Republican Del. Trent Kittleman finished Election Night in the lead. However, a subpar performance for her in mail-in ballots dropped her to third in the race, narrowly missing out on re-election by 113 votes. Her closest opponent, Democrat Chao Wu, received 2,482 more mail-in votes.

Ben Smith, Steuart Pittman’s campaign manager, said the election results show how Democrats used mail-in voting to their advantage.

“Ensuring broad turnout was important to us, and vote by mail is an incredible asset in that respect, because it removes a lot of the barriers to participation that a voter might otherwise experience because of issues with transportation, childcare, work, or any other responsibility,” Smith said.

How the Democrats used mail-in voting

Yvette Lewis, chair of the Maryland Democratic Party, said the party “spent a lot of time educating voters on how easy it was to do mail-in voting.”

She said the state Democratic Party sent digital ads to voters encouraging them to vote by mail. Meanwhile, Democratic volunteers called or texted voters and knocked on doors to deliver the message that voting by mail was easy and convenient.

As a result, Democrats “realize the importance, the ease of voting by mail and voting early, because all kinds of unforeseen things can happen on Election Day,” Lewis said.

Individual Democratic campaigns reinforced the message that voting early or voting by mail would be good options.

“We utilized methods of contact like calls, texts, door knocks, digital outreach, and mail to ensure voters knew how to vote by mail or in person during Early Vote and Election Day,” said Smith. “For vote by mail, when voters requested ballots, we put a lot of effort into ensuring that they returned their ballots.”

Given how much effort Democrats put into pumping up the mail-in vote, Trone didn’t panic and didn’t concede on Election Night.

“We always knew this race was going to be close,” Trone, who was running in a redrawn district that included more Republicans, told supporters in Frederick as the early Election Night count showed him falling behind Parrott by about six percentage points. “The district is different, and it’s going to take a few days for the election officials to finish counting the tens of thousands — and it is tens of thousands — of votes that are still outstanding throughout the district.”

That being the case, Trone, who was bidding for his third term, added: “I’m confident that we are headed back to Congress.”

His confidence was well founded. Trone pulled into the lead as the mail-in vote was counted, and three days after Election Day, the Associated Press declared him the winner. Trone finished about 10 percentage points ahead of Parrott.

What Republicans say now

While Democratic officials made early voting a priority among their voters, the same cannot be said for Republicans. Republicans did not use mail-in voting to their advantage, said Parrott, the losing GOP congressional candidate.

“I think going forward, the Republican Party in Maryland just needs to realize and voters need to realize this is the law,” Parrott said. “This is how elections are going be conducted.”

Parrott’s thoughts on mail-in voting for his party reflects those of the head of the Republican National Committee.

“Our voters need to vote early,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told Fox News in early December. “There were many [people] in 2020 saying, ‘Don’t vote by mail, don’t vote early,’ and we have to stop that, and understand that if Democrats are getting ballots in for a month, we can’t expect to get it all done in one day.”

Upset with the close result in her race, Kittleman tied her failed re-election bid to the GOP’s demonization of mail-in voting.

“There may have been a number of people who would have liked to vote but couldn't get out on Election Day, having been dissuaded from using mail-in voting opportunities,” she said. “I think it was a very bad move on our part.”

That bad move stemmed from what Trump said about mail-in balloting over and over again for more than two years, Kittleman said.

“President Trump and other Republicans are urging Republicans not to vote using mail-in ballots, which frankly is really, really stupid,” Kittleman said.

Noting that mail-in voting now appears to be a permanent and major part of every election, she added: “If you don't take advantage of it, you're cutting off your nose to spite your face.”

Capital News Service is a student-powered news organization run by the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism. For 26 years, they have provided deeply reported, award-winning coverage of issues of import to Marylanders.

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US Wind, Oceantic Pitch Offshore Wind Future Amid Trump Attacks

By Jan Plotczyk • September 10, 2025

At Shore Progress’s monthly meeting last week, the tension between national politics and local opportunity was on full display. With President Donald Trump escalating his attacks on offshore wind, representatives from US Wind and the Oceantic Network made their case directly to members gathered in Salisbury. From the outset, the presenters stressed the scale of what’s coming to the Eastern Shore. “This project is the equivalent of building two nuclear power plants off our coast,” US Wind representative Dave Wilson said, pointing to plans for 114 turbines and four offshore substations. Together, he said, the project will generate two net gigawatts of clean energy, enough to power approximately 26% of the homes in Maryland. The presentation walked members through the timeline: a four-phase buildout beginning in the southeast corner of the lease area, with each phase, including its own export cable, routed through Indian River Bay into the regional grid at the Indian River Power Plant in Delaware. Environmental safeguards on display Slides showed how US Wind plans to minimize negative effects on wildlife. The company will use an aircraft detection lighting system to keep turbines dark until a low-flying aircraft approaches, reducing night-sky light pollution. Marine protections include bubble curtains to dampen noise during pile driving, visual and acoustic monitoring for whales, and strict shutdown zones if animals enter construction areas. Lights will be on less than 1% of the time in any given year, underscoring their view that offshore wind can coexist with migratory birds, commercial fishing, and marine transit. Economic promise for the Shore The discussion turned quickly to what the project means locally. US Wind pledged hundreds of jobs for the Shore, with commitments to use union labor and partner with minority, women, and veteran-owned businesses. Officials noted that the Lower Shore Workforce Alliance has already received $700,000 from Maryland Works for Wind to build training programs, while community colleges are adjusting trade curricula to educate the next generation of turbine technicians. A planned operations and maintenance facility in West Ocean City will house technicians and crew transfer vessels, bringing steady employment and infrastructure investment to the harbor. A national fight with local stakes The meeting didn’t shy away from politics. Several members noted Trump’s repeated attempts to derail offshore wind projects including his latest push to revoke US Wind’s federal permit. US Wind officials acknowledged that such lawsuits could delay progress but insisted that the project’s federal approvals are on solid ground. “This is the Eastern Shore's moment,” Shore Progress Chair Jared Schablein said, referring to a slide that showed more than $815 million in offshore wind investments statewide. “The question is whether politics will slow us down, or whether we keep building for the Shore’s future.” The presentation had a clear message: Offshore wind is not just about clean power, but also about jobs, investment, and opportunity for Eastern Shore families. Jan Plotczyk spent 25 years as a survey and education statistician with the federal government, at the Census Bureau and the National Center for Education Statistics. She retired to Rock Hall.

Gov. Moore Signs “Housing Starts Here” Order to Tackle Maryland’s Affordability Crisis

By Gren Whitman • September 10, 2025

Standing at the Legacy at Twin Rivers apartment community in Howard County, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed an executive order aimed at addressing his state’s deepening housing crisis. Titled Housing Starts Here, his order is designed to accelerate construction of affordable homes and cut through what Moore called years of “no and slow” decision-making in state housing policy. Maryland is facing a shortage of at least 96,000 housing units, according to state estimates, a gap that officials say has driven up prices, pushed families out of the state, and stifled economic growth. “Building pathways to wealth for Marylanders, creating jobs, attracting new businesses and residents, growing our economy, and securing our future all start with housing,” Moore said at the signing. “We need to be the state of yes and now.” Five guiding principles The executive order lays out five core priorities for state housing policy: Use state land for housing . Agencies must identify surplus properties and land near transit stations that can be converted into new housing developments. Cut red tape. State permitting processes will be streamlined, with new rules allowing third-party reviewers to accelerate approvals. Strengthen partnerships. A new State Housing Ombudsman will serve as a liaison to help coordinate projects between state agencies, local governments, and developers. Set clear goals. By January 2026, the state will publish housing production targets for each county and update them every five years. Incentivize affordable housing. Jurisdictions that meet housing targets or pass pro-housing policies will be recognized with new Maryland Housing Leadership Awards, making them more competitive for state funding. Speed as the priority State officials said the new framework is focused on cutting delays that can hold back projects for years. By digitizing applications, engaging multiple agencies simultaneously, and allowing outside reviewers, the state aims to expedite project completion while upholding environmental and community standards. What could this mean for us on the Eastern Shore? Moore acknowledged that housing affordability consistently ranks as Marylanders’ No. 1 concern. For young people in particular, high costs and long commutes are major reasons they leave the state. The order seeks to reverse that trend, tying housing growth to job creation and transit access. On the Eastern Shore , where rental availability and starter homes are limited, Moore’s order could open opportunities for mixed-use, transit-oriented projects on state-owned land, as well as accelerate approval for affordable housing initiatives backed by nonprofits and local developers. What comes next The Department of Housing and Community Development will publish the state’s first set of production targets by Jan. 1, 2026, followed by annual progress reports starting in 2027. Agencies have until March 2026 to implement many of the new permitting and funding acceleration rules. Moore framed the executive order as a generational investment. “Making housing more affordable is not just about building shelter, it’s about building a legacy,” he said.

Alsobrooks Leads Push to Remove RFK Jr. From HHS, Citing “Costs, Chaos, and Corruption”

By Gren Whitman • September 10, 2025

Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) has intensified her calls for Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to step down, releasing a detailed report that she says proves his tenure has been a disaster for American families. The first senator to demand Kennedy’s resignation in May, Alsobrooks joined Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) in unveiling a 54-page report that chronicles what they describe as the “costly, chaotic, and corrupt” record of Kennedy’s first 203 days at the department. Released before Kennedy’s Senate hearing last week, the report outlines examples of alleged mismanagement for each day since he was sworn in on Feb. 13. “Robert Kennedy’s tenure as America’s chief health officer has been higher costs, more chaos, and boundless corruption,” Wyden said. “His actions are endangering children, leaving parents confused and scared, and forcing families and taxpayers to pay more for their health care.” Echoing that assessment, Alsobrooks cited testimony from scientists at the National Institutes of Health in Maryland who she says have watched critical cancer research grind to a halt under Kennedy’s leadership. “His actions are increasing Americans’ health care costs, causing chaos, and furthering the Trump administration’s endless stream of corruption,” she said. The report argues that Kennedy has: Driven up costs by backing the Trump administration’s budget plan, which Alsobrooks says strips health coverage from 15 million Americans while handing tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations. Created chaos by dismantling HHS programs, undermining research institutions, and promoting vaccine misinformation. Engaged in corruption by using the office to advance personal and family financial interests, particularly around limiting vaccine access. Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group, praised Alsobrooks’ leadership. “President Trump and Senate Republicans made a grievous error when entrusting Kennedy with our nation’s health,” the group said in. “It is far past time that President Trump rectifies this error by firing Kennedy before more lives are unnecessarily put at risk.” Alsobrooks appeared on the Morning Joe TV show on to discuss the findings and to reiterate her demand that Kennedy resign or be removed. “This is about protecting families and protecting science,” she said. “Our nation’s health system cannot afford another day under Robert Kennedy’s reckless watch.” As a community organizer, journalist, administrator, project planner/manager, and consultant, Gren Whitman has led neighborhood, umbrella, public interest, and political committees and groups, and worked for civil rights and anti-war organizations.

Wicomico Officials Advance ICE Partnership Amid Community Opposition and Rising Concerns

By CSES Staff • September 10, 2025

Wicomico County leaders have announced plans to move forward with the federal government’s controversial 287(g) program, entering into an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that would deputize local officers to serve immigration warrants inside the county jail. Under the model selected, known as the Warrant Service Officer program, specially trained deputies at the detention center would be allowed to serve civil immigration warrants on individuals already in custody. County Executive Julie Giordano and Sheriff Mike Lewis emphasized that deputies would not conduct street-level immigration enforcement. “Public safety is our top responsibility,” Giordano said. “The Warrant Service Officer program provides our sheriff’s office with the tools they need to address individuals already in custody who may pose a risk to our community at no additional cost to the county.” Lewis added that the program “gives our deputies the ability to safely and lawfully carry out their duties while ensuring that Wicomico County remains a secure place to live, work, and raise a family.” Community pushback The announcement drew swift opposition from civil rights and community organizations, including the ACLU of Maryland, the Wicomico NAACP, and local grassroots groups such as Crabs on the Shore, who have warned that the agreement will harm immigrant families, sow fear, and erode trust between residents and law enforcement. Opponents also criticized the process, arguing that the decision was rushed through without meaningful public input despite repeated calls for hearings. “This is being framed as an administrative detail, but it has huge consequences for our neighbors,” one advocate said. Concerns about cost and precedent Supporters of the WSO model have emphasized that the partnership comes “at no additional cost” to Wicomico taxpayers, but critics point out that other jurisdictions have found otherwise. Anne Arundel County canceled its own 287(g) agreement, citing high costs and community backlash. The Camden Police Department in Delaware withdrew from a similar partnership after public protests in May. Advocates note that the federal government does not fully reimburse counties for the time, training, and legal exposure associated with 287(g) programs, leaving local taxpayers to shoulder hidden expenses. First on Delmarva If finalized, Wicomico County would become the first government or police agency on the Delmarva Peninsula to formally enter into a 287(g) agreement with ICE. Supporters say that distinction demonstrates a commitment to accountability and public safety. Opponents warn it risks branding the county as hostile to immigrant communities that have long been central to the Shore’s workforce, particularly in poultry processing and agriculture. The county’s decision comes amid a broader national debate about local involvement in federal immigration enforcement, with critics warning that partnerships like 287(g) make communities less safe by discouraging victims and witnesses from coming forward. For now, the final agreement is pending federal approval. But with strong opposition already mobilized, the fight over Wicomico’s new partnership is likely only beginning.

Wicomico Democrats Silent as County Leaders Advance ICE Agreement

By CSES Staff • September 10, 2025

Wicomico County Republicans have moved forward with an agreement to join the federal 287(g) program, aligning the county with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). County Executive Julie Giordano and Sheriff Mike Lewis are backing the program to train county officers at the detention center to help ICE identify non-citizens for deportation proceedings. The agreement has triggered strong pushback from immigrant advocates, civil rights groups, and community leaders who warn that this partnership will erode trust between residents and law enforcement, risk racial profiling, and allot local tax dollars to assist federal immigration enforcement. Yet amid the growing controversy, the Wicomico County Democratic Central Committee has issued no response to the ICE agreement, even as residents voice frustration that the Democratic establishment’s silence has ceded the conversation to Republicans. Moreover, the Central Committee has remained silent with regard to recent comments by Democratic Councilwoman April Jackson, who told the Washington Post that the poultry industry should reduce its reliance on immigrant workers. Jackson also said, “a lot of Americans aren’t employed because the Haitians are taking our jobs.” Jackson’s remarks have drawn widespread criticism from immigrant advocates. For many residents, the Democratic leadership’s silence is as much of a concern as the county government’s new partnership with ICE. As the county waits for federal approval of the 287(g) agreement, the absence of a Democratic counterweight has left immigrant families and community organizers to carry the opposition on their own.

As Questions Swirl About County Executive Run, Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes to Host Community Conversation in Dorchester

By Community Desk • September 10, 2025

With speculation mounting that Delegate Sheree Sample-Hughes (D-37A) may run for County Executive for Wicomico County in 2026, the longtime Eastern Shore lawmaker will headline a Community Conversation in Dorchester County on Sept. 17 at 6 pm. Sponsored by the Eastern Shore Democrats, the event will give residents the opportunity to hear Sample-Hughes speak about local priorities — schools, public safety, health care access, and economic development in the mid-Shore. Sample-Hughes, former Speaker Pro Tem of the Maryland House of Delegates, has represented portions of Wicomico and Dorchester counties for more than a decade. Her record includes bipartisan work on district projects, as well as efforts to expand health services and invest in infrastructure. Although organizers emphasize that the Sept. 17 gathering is not a campaign event, the timing has fueled interest. Political observers note that any appearance by Sample-Hughes will be closely watched as Democrats weigh potential challengers for County Executive in the upcoming cycle. The forum will include remarks from the delegate, followed by a question-and-answer session. Seating is available first-come, first-served and residents from across the Shore are encouraged to attend. Key details What: Community Conversation with Del. Sheree Sample-Hughes When: Sept. 17, 6 pm Where: Dorchester County, venue to be announced by organizers. Format: Remarks followed by audience Q&A Before her election to the House of Delegates, Sample-Hughes served on the Wicomico County Council. Should she enter the county executive race, many believe she would be a serious challenger to Republican incumbent Julie Giordano.