Primary candidates & supporters hold signs today near the Fire House voting location at the corner of Maple Ave (Rt 213) & Cross St. in Chestertown. Kent County Commissioner incumbent and candidate for re-election Billy Short is on right (in shades and white shirt & shorts) Photo by Jane Jewell
THIS ARTICLE UPDATED Wed. June 27 to include more election information.
Tuesday, June 26, was the primary election day in Maryland. Kent County primary election results are in, with all 10 of 10 precincts reporting. According to the Kent County Board of Elections, 1,637 Republicans and 1,977 Democrats took part in the primary, both in early voting and on election day, for a total of 3,614. That represents just over 33 percent of the county’s eligible voters in the two parties. Unaffiliated voters are not eligible to vote in the Maryland primary as the purpose of a primary is to select the party nominees thus only registered members of the parties may vote in the primary.
The numbers were probably increased by strong interest in several contests, including the Republican race for county commissioner and the Democratic primary for the District 1 Representative to the US Congress. The results below include early ballots plus election day votes but not any absentee or provisional ballots.
In the most hotly contested local race, five candidates entered the contest for three Republican ballot slots in the race for Kent County Commissioners. Voters chose incumbent Billy Short and newcomers Bob Jacob and Tom Mason over Aaron Bramble and Jim Luff. However, the final margin was close enough – Bramble trailed by only 16 votes – that absentee and provisional ballots could change the result. The official totals may not be known until as late as next Friday, July 6, when final absentee ballots are counted and the Board of Elections certifies the election results. As of June 25, there were 42 absentee ballot requests from Kent Republicans, of which 23 had been returned. The Board of Elections did not have provisional ballot figures as of press time.
In the Democratic primary, incumbent Kent County Commissioners William Pickrum and Ron Fithian were joined by newcomer Tom Timberman to make up the Democratic slate for November. The three were uncontested for the three November ballot slots.
The other contested race in Kent pitted Andrew Meehan against Bryan DiGregory for the Democratic slot for the position of the State’s Attorney. In a close race, DiGregory was ahead by 130 votes with all 10 wards reporting. The winner will face former State’s Attorney Robert Strong, who ran uncontested on the Republican side, in November. With only 96 Democrats having requested absentee ballots, DiGregory’s lead appears to be safe.
Another closely-watched race was for the Democratic slot for the First District representative to the U.S. Congress. As of midnight on election day, 292 of the 294 precincts in District 1 had reported their totals. At that point, political newcomer Jesse Colvin led a field of six contenders with 38 percent of the vote district-wide and a lead of some 3,500 votes over Allison Galbraith, who finished a respectable second with nearly 10,000 votes, or just under 29 percent. Three candidates shared the remaining 33%–Michael Brown (15%), Michael Pullen (12.8%), Steven Worton (3.9%), and Erik Lane (2.2% ). Colvin’s margins were considerably higher in Kent, where, with all ten precincts reporting, he garnered over 55.2 percent of the votes to second-place Galbraith’s 17.9 percent.
On the Republican side, incumbent Andrew Harris easily won the primary over two rivals, both from the Eastern Shore. Harris received 82.7% of the votes cast by Kent County Republicans and 85.8% of Republican voters throughout the district which includes all of the Eastern Shore counties plus parts of Baltimore, Harford, and Carroll counties.
Look for a fuller election report in the Chestertown Spy soon. For the complete state, county, and local election results in all races both state-wide and in the individual counties and districts see the list at Maryland Board of Elections website. For Kent County totals click here.
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Pam Deringer says
Leave it to K. DiGregory to steal the show!!