Maryland Democratic Party

The Maryland Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the state of Maryland, headquartered in Annapolis.^[3] The current state party chair is Steuart Pittman.^[4] It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all but one of Maryland's eight U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, all statewide executive offices and supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature.

Maryland Democratic Party
Abbreviation	MDDEM
Chairman	Steuart Pittman
Governor	Wes Moore
Lieutenant Governor	Aruna Miller
President of the Senate	Bill Ferguson
Senate Majority Leader	Nancy J. King
Speaker of the House	Adrienne A. Jones
Founded	May 21, 1827; 198 years ago (1827-05-21)
Headquarters	Annapolis, Maryland, U.S.
Membership (2021)	2,284,097[1]
Ideology	Modern liberalism[2]
Political position	Center-left[2]
National affiliation	Democratic Party
Senate	34 / 47
House of Delegates	102 / 141
U.S. Senate (Maryland seats)	2 / 2
U.S. House of Representatives (Maryland seats)	7 / 8
Statewide Officers	4 / 4
County Executives	6 / 9
Baltimore City Council	15 / 15
Montgomery County Council	11 / 11
Election symbol
Website
mddems.org
Politics of the United States Political parties Elections

Party leaders Elijah Cummings, Martin O'Malley and Michael Cryor minutes before announcing Maryland's votes at the 2008 Democratic National Convention

History

The Maryland Democratic Party is among the oldest continuously existing political organizations in the world. On May 21, 1827, a meeting of Andrew Jackson supporters organized a political structure in the state designed to help Jackson win the Presidency after he was denied victory in the 1824 United States presidential election despite winning the popular vote. The first meeting of the Democratic (Jackson) Central Committee was held at the Atheneum in Baltimore, located on the southwest corner of St. Paul and Lexington streets.

Twelve delegates from each county and six delegates from Baltimore were invited to attend. The label "Central Committee" was adopted along with a "Committee of Correspondence" which functioned like the present Executive Committee. Thomas M. Forman, Cecil County, was chosen to preside with William M. Beall, Frederick County, appointed Secretary and John S. Brooke, Prince George's County, appointed as Assistant Secretary. In addition to its founding, the Maryland Democratic Party hosted the first six Democratic National Conventions from 1832 to 1852 held in Baltimore. On May 31, 1838, Maryland Democrats gathered in a state party convention to nominate William Grason for Governor. He became the first popularly elected Governor in Maryland with the help of central committees throughout the state.^{[citation needed]}

After the ratification of the Suffrage Amendment in 1920, the Democratic State Central Committee added an equal number of women to its membership, a practice still embodied in National Party Rules and in the elections for Cecil County Democratic State Central Committee.^[5]

The first six Democratic National Conventions were held in Baltimore, for a total of nine to date.

Historically the Democratic Party has been the dominant party in Maryland politics. Since the 1838 Maryland gubernatorial election, the first gubernatorial election in Maryland in which the governor was elected by direct popular vote, 28 Maryland Governors have been Democrats.^[6] Since the 1895 Maryland Comptroller election, the first Comptroller election in Maryland in which the Comptroller was elected by direct popular vote, 17 Maryland Comptrollers have been Democrats.^[7] Since the 1895 Maryland Attorney General election, the first Attorney General election in Maryland in which the Attorney General was elected by direct popular vote, 23 Attorneys General have been Democrats.^[8] The party has held continuous control of the Maryland General Assembly since 1920, the longest currently running streak of control by a single party of a state legislature in the United States.

Elected officials

Members of Congress

Democrats comprise nine of Maryland's ten-member Congressional delegation:^[9]

U.S. Senate

Since 1987, Democrats have controlled both of Maryland's seats in the U.S. Senate:

• 
  Senior U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen
• 
  Junior U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks

U.S. House of Representatives

Democrats hold seven of the eight seats Maryland is apportioned in the U.S. House following the 2000 census:

District	Member	Photo
2nd	Johnny Olszewski
3rd	Sarah Elfreth
4th	Glenn Ivey
5th	Steny Hoyer
6th	April McClain Delaney
7th	Kweisi Mfume
8th	Jamie Raskin

Statewide officeholders

Beginning in January 2023, Democrats control all four statewide offices:

• Governor: Wes Moore
• Lieutenant Governor: Aruna Miller
• Attorney General: Anthony Brown
• Comptroller: Brooke Lierman

County government

Partisan control of county councils and boards of commissioners as of 2024

  Democratic incumbent

  Republican incumbent

Until 2010, the Democratic Party of Maryland held majority power at the County level. As of 2024, Democrats hold a majority of the seats on the county councils of seven counties (Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, the city of Baltimore, Frederick County, Howard County, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County) and the Charles County Board of Commissioners. The party also holds county executive offices in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Frederick County, Howard County, Montgomery County, and Prince George's County.

Legislative leadership

• President of the Senate: Bill Ferguson
• President Pro Tempore of the Senate: Malcolm Augustine
• Senate Majority Leader: Nancy J. King
• Speaker of the House of Delegates: Adrienne A. Jones
• Speaker Pro Tempore of the House of Delegates: Dana Stein
• House Majority Leader: David Moon
• House Majority Whip: Jazz Lewis

Mayors

• Annapolis: Gavin Buckley
• Baltimore: Brandon Scott

Electoral performance

Presidential

Maryland Democratic Party presidential election results

Election	Presidential ticket	Votes	Vote %	Electoral votes	Result
1960	John F. Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson	565,808	53.61%	9 / 9	Won
1964	Lyndon B. Johnson/Hubert Humphrey	730,912	65.47%	10 / 10	Won
1968	Hubert Humphrey/Edmund Muskie	538,310	43.59%	10 / 10	Lost
1972	George McGovern/Sargent Shriver	505,781	37.36%	0 / 10	Lost
1976	Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale	759,612	53.04%	10 / 10	Won
1980	Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale	726,161	47.12%	10 / 10	Lost
1984	Walter Mondale/Geraldine Ferraro	787,935	47.02%	0 / 10	Lost
1988	Michael Dukakis/Lloyd Bentsen	826,304	48.20%	0 / 10	Lost
1992	Bill Clinton/Al Gore	988,571	49.80%	10 / 10	Won
1996	Bill Clinton/Al Gore	966,207	54.25%	10 / 10	Won
2000	Al Gore/Joe Lieberman	1,145,782	56.57%	10 / 10	Lost
2004	John Kerry/John Edwards	1,334,493	55.91%	10 / 10	Lost
2008	Barack Obama/Joe Biden	1,629,467	61.92%	10 / 10	Won
2012	Barack Obama/Joe Biden	1,677,844	61.97%	10 / 10	Won
2016	Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine	1,677,928	60.33%	10 / 10	Lost
2020	Joe Biden/Kamala Harris	1,985,023	65.36%	10 / 10	Won
2024	Kamala Harris/Tim Walz	1,902,577	62.62%	10 / 10	Lost

Party organization

Party chairs (1988–present)

• Steuart Pittman (2025–present)^[4]
• Charlene Dukes (acting) (2025)^[10]
• Kenneth Ulman (2023–2025)^[11]
• Everett Browning (acting) (2023)^[12]
• Yvette Lewis (2019–2023)^[13]
• Cory McCray (acting) (2019)^[13]
• Maya Rockeymoore Cummings (2018–2019)^[14]
• Kathleen Matthews, (2017^[15]-2018)
• Bruce Poole (2015–2017)
• Yvette Lewis (2011–2015)
• Peter O'Malley (2011)
• Susan Turnbull (2009–2011)
• Michael Cryor (2007–2009)
• Terry Lierman (2004–2007)
• Ike Leggett (2002–2004)
• Wayne Rogers (2000–2002)
• Peter B. Krauser (1997–2000)
• Gov. Harry Hughes (1994–1997)
• Vera Hall (1993–1994)
• Nate Landow (1988–1993)^[16]

Party officers

• Party Chair: Charlene Dukes (acting)
• First Vice Chair: Charlene Dukes
• Second Vice Chair: Judy Wixted
• Third Vice Chair: Ruben Amaya
• Treasurer: Devang Shah
• Secretary: Corynne Courpas
• Deputy Treasurer: Diana Emerson
• Deputy Secretary: Gabe Gough
• Parliamentarian: Greg Pecorara
• DNC Member: Bel Leong-Hong
• DNC Member: Robbie Leonard
• DNC Member: Bob Kresslein
• DNC Member: Cheryl S. Landis

^[17]

Party staff

• Executive Director: Karen Darkes^[18]
• Deputy Executive Director: Joe Francaviglia^[19]
• Fundraising Director: Aaron Jarboe
• Senior Advisor: Meredith Bowman

Affiliated groups

• United Democratic Women's Clubs of Maryland
• Young Democrats of Maryland
• Maryland High School Democrats
• Democratic Women's PAC of Maryland
• United Democrats of Frederick County
• Green Dems
• Democratic Party (United States)

See also

• Maryland portal

• Political party strength in Maryland