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] |
| 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 | |
TheMaryland Democratic Party is the affiliate of theDemocratic Party in the state ofMaryland, headquartered inAnnapolis.[2] The current state party chair isSteuart Pittman.[3] It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all but one of Maryland's eightU.S. House seats, bothU.S. Senate seats, all statewide executive offices and supermajorities in both houses of thestate legislature.
The Maryland Democratic Party is among the oldest continuously existing political organizations in the world. On May 21, 1827, a meeting ofAndrew Jackson supporters organized a political structure in the state designed to help Jackson win the Presidency after he was denied victory in the1824 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 ofSt. Paul andLexington 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 theSuffrage 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.[4]
The first sixDemocratic 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 the1838 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.[5] 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.[6] 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.[7] The party has held continuous control of theMaryland General Assembly since 1920, the longest currently running streak of control by a single party of a state legislature in the United States.
Democrats comprise nine of Maryland's ten-memberCongressional delegation:[8]
Since1987, Democrats have controlled both of Maryland's seats in the U.S. Senate:
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Democrats hold seven of the eight seats Maryland is apportioned in the U.S. House following the2000 census:
| District | Member | Photo |
|---|---|---|
| 2nd | Johnny Olszewski | .jpg) |
| 3rd | Sarah Elfreth | .jpg) |
| 4th | Glenn Ivey | .jpg) |
| 5th | Steny Hoyer | .jpg) |
| 6th | April McClain Delaney | .jpg) |
| 7th | Kweisi Mfume | .jpg) |
| 8th | Jamie Raskin | .jpg) |
Beginning in January 2023, Democrats control all four statewide offices:
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 ofBaltimore,Frederick County,Howard County,Montgomery County, andPrince George's County) and theCharles 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.
| 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 |
| International | |
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| National | |
| Other | |
