HOLLYWOOD, Md. (November 10, 2022)—The Red Wave predicted just before this year's midterm elections may have only been a trickle nationwide and Republicans appear to have underperformed, but in St. Mary's the party's influence remains dominant in virtually every aspect of state and local politics.
The only race in which the GOP seemingly fell short was in District 29B where Deb Rey came close to unseating Democrat incumbent Brian Crosby for the delegate seat she once held.
Though the race was close—the candidates were separated by just 327 votes—Crosby claimed victory.
He defeated Rey in 2018 to be the only Democrat in the St. Mary's County delegation to the General Assembly in Annapolis.
"I am humbled to be able to continue my service to you over the next four years," Crosby said in a statement to his supporters on social media. "I want to thank everyone who pitched in over the last 18 months to make this a reality."
Going into election night, Rey said she felt good about her chances.
"It feels a little like 2014," Rey said the night of Nov. 8 waiting for election returns to come in, noting the national sentiment appeared to lean towards a Red Wave much like it did when she was first elected.
Rey unseated the long-serving Democrat John Bohanan in an upset victory eight years ago.
Later, when all of the precincts reported in voting numbers, they showed Rey trailing close behind Crosby with 4,710 votes of her own to the incumbent's 5,037.
On Tuesday night Rey said she would not concede to Crosby until the second canvassing of mail-in ballots.
On the first canvassing of mail-in ballots Crosby received 506 votes to Rey's 189.
Wendy Adkins, director of the St. Mary's County Board of Elections said that there were still 4,297 mail-in ballots left to be opened and counted.
"That's not counting what's in the drop boxes and what's in the mail as of Nov. 9," Adkins said.
The bulk of the second canvassing of mail-in ballots will take place Nov. 10 and Nov. 11, said Adkins, while the final canvassing will take place Nov. 18.
In District 29C, County Commissioner Todd Morgan, now term-limited after 12 years in the position, was far ahead in his race to take the delegate's seat with 5,673 votes to Democrat challenger Bill Bates' 2,297 votes in St. Mary's.
District 29 C spans both St. Mary's and Calvert counties but only a relatively small portion of it rests in Calvert.
Morgan thanked his family, friends and supporters for his apparent victory; he also congratulated his opponent on a race well run.
"I'm really honored," Morgan said the morning of Nov. 9. "I'm privileged and honored to represent them as their delegate.
"My door is always open."
District 29 State Senator Jack Bailey and District 29A Del. Matt Morgan both ran unopposed to retake their seats in the General Assembly.
Bailey got 24,573 votes while Matt Morgan received 11,372.
Commissioner President James "Randy" Guy easily won reelection with 22,186 votes to Democrat challenger Natalie Weech's 7,924 votes. Though Weech was on the ballot, she had been deemed ineligible to hold the office after she revealed she had only lived in the county for three years when the legal residency requirement was five years.
District 1 Commissioner Eric Colvin was in the lead with 21,065 votes to Democrat challenger Sheila Milburn's 10,065 votes.
District 2 Commissioner Mike Hewitt likewise was in the lead with 20,102 votes against Democrat challenger Brandon Russell's 10,941 votes.
District 3 will have a new commissioner in Mike Alderson who won in the primary against Elizabeth O'Connor wife of outgoing county commissioner John O'Connor.
Alderson, who ran unopposed in the general election, garnered 24,155 votes.
In District 4, the seat Todd Morgan is vacating, newcomer Scott Ostrow lead with 19,907 against Democrat challenger Steve Tuttle, who garnered 10,902 votes.
In the school board races, Karen Bailey, who ran unopposed, retained her at-large seat, while newcomer Dorothy Andrews surpassed Marsha Williams in the non-partisan race with 14,179 votes to Williams' 11,025 votes.
Both Jaymi Sterling, daughter of outgoing Gov. Larry Hogan, and Sheriff's Office Captain Steve Hall won the State's Attorney's Office and sheriff's races respectively as there were no Democrat challengers.
Sterling received 25,533 votes, while Hall received 25,967 votes.
In other state-wide races St. Mary's voted overwhelmingly for GOP gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox and comptroller candidate Barry Glassman but both failed to realize their ambitions to those offices in a state with a 2-to-1 advantage for Democrats.
GOP attorney general candidate Michael Peroutka also failed in his bid against Anthony Brown, though Peroutka got the lion's share of votes in St. Mary's.
Likewise incumbent Democrat U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen won handily in his reelection bid against Chris Chaffee as did U.S. Rep Steny Hoyer, a Democrat, against Chris Palombi.
For more local stories from the County Times newspapers, visit countytimes.somd.com or find a copy on local news stands.