SILVER SPRING – Although Republican Donald Trump carried the night nationally to become president-elect, in Maryland and especially Prince George’s County, Democrats won federal races decisively.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen has secured the open Senate seat left by the retiring Sen. Barbara Mikulski. In the House of Representatives race, former Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown redeemed himself from his 2014 gubernatorial loss to Larry Hogan to win the 4th District seat, while long-time Rep. Steny Hoyer won another two-year term representing the 5th District.
Maryland also supported Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, for president. She carried the state with 59.6 percent of the vote and Prince George’s County by 88.4 percent.
Voters on Election Day expressed a range of reasons for supporting Clinton, from enthusiasm to resignation.
A voter in Glenn Dale who gave her name as Sundee said, “I support Hillary Clinton all the way. There is only one option today.”
In Bowie, voter Brian J. said, “I came out for the presidential race and voted Clinton. She’s the lesser of two evils.” Van Hollen, Brown, Hoyer and other Democratic officials and supporters gathered at the Tommy Douglas Conference Center (formerly the National Labor College campus) in Silver Spring for a victory party last Tuesday night, where each expressed gratitude for their volunteers and voters.
Brown said this cycle’s campaign staff was “the best he ever had,” and though “small but mighty,” their hard work enabled him to come back from his gubernatorial loss.
“My father taught me a very important lesson as a young boy, the same lesson that I try to teach my children. He said, ‘Anthony, son, every so often in life, you’re going to have successes. And every so often in life you’re going to have setbacks,’” Brown said in his victory speech. “But he said, ‘The true test is whether you get up.’ And if you believe in what you do, you get up and you get back to it.”
Brown earned 73.9 percent of the vote across the entire 4th District, which also includes part of Anne Arundel County, but a crushing 90.1 percent in Prince George’s County.
He defeated Republican George McDermott, who garnered 21.7 percent of the total vote, Libertarian Benjamin Krause with 1.8 percent and Green Party nominee Kamesha Clark, who won 2.5 percent.
Brown will join Hoyer- the current House Minority Whip- as part of Maryland’s Congressional delegation, which includes all men for the first time since 1987.
Hoyer credited his victory to his voters and his record as a legislator.
“I am honored to have received the support of my neighbors to continue serving them in the U.S. House of Representatives. I am proud of what I’ve accomplished on behalf of my constituents throughout my career,” he said in a statement. “But there is still a great deal of work to be done.”
Hoyer garnered 67.2 percent of the vote. Challengers Mark Arness (R) and Jason Summers (Libertarian) got 29.6 and 3 percent, respectively.
Turning to the Senate, the general election race was not as hard-fought as the primary, which pitted Van Hollen against Prince George’s County Rep. Donna Edwards (whose seat Brown won Tuesday). But the county came around and ended up supporting Van Hollen in a big way; he earned nearly ten times more votes (315,929 to 32,075) than challenger Del. Kathy Szeliga, a Republican from Baltimore County.
State-wide, Van Hollen earned 60.3 percent of the vote to Szeliga’s 36.3 percent, with Green Party candidate Margaret Flowers pulling in 3.2 percent.
Van Hollen thanked his supporters Tuesday night shortly before 10:30 p.m.
“I am truly humbled, and it is time for all of us to get to work. I am very blessed to be here this evening,” he said. “I want to thank you for making me your partner in change in the United States Senate.”
He said this election was an important one, because it was about values and what the country should be like.
“In this election, we have had the character of America at stake,” he said. “I want to thank you for uniting behind a common purpose of trying to make sure every Marylander, every American, is treated with dignity, and treated with respect, and has the opportunity to have a fair shake in the United States of America.”
Van Hollen said his priorities in the Senate would be protecting the Chesapeake Bay, battling climate change, improving education and building up the economy.
Brown said his focus would be similar in the 115th Congress.
“I believe in the work we need to do to provide good schools and safe neighborhoods, and jobs and opportunities,” he said. “I’m grateful that the voters gave me an opportunity to get back to it.”
For his part, Hoyer said he will continue working on his Make It In America plan and supporting federal employees in his new term.
“I will keep working to ensure our federal employees receive fair pay and benefits. I will continue to stand up for our military installations across the district,” he said in a statement. “I will keep fighting to make a quality education at all levels affordable and accessible to everyone. And I will keep pushing for equal pay for equal work and a higher minimum wage.”
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