Once more, with feeling: Time to enter Maryland Matters’ election contest

Ugly and frightening as election season can get – or is that Halloween? – the reassuring thing is that voters do finally get a chance to have their say. So please vote, if you haven’t already.

And here’s another entreaty to vote: In Maryland Matters’ election contest. It’s a safe bet there will be more drama and a closer result than you’ll get in most Maryland elections this year.

As always, we’re asking you to handicap several Maryland races, and we’ll throw you a few tie-breaking bonus questions at the end. We’ll tally the points when we become confident in the election results. The winner gets to choose between prizes: lunch with the Maryland Matters staffer of your choice, or a States Newsroom tote bag and whatever tchotchkes we can convince you to take in it.

Entering is simple: Please email your contest answers to [email protected]. Be sure to include “election contest” in the subject line – all caps never hurt in an email – so it doesn’t get lost in the several hundred others we get in a day. The deadline for entries is 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3 – just as the polls close. Good luck with your entries – and please invite your friends to participate!

Now to the contest:

1) Ballot Question 3, the redistricting amendment, is seen as a way to enable Democrats in the legislature to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries before the next U.S. Census. Will the proposed constitutional amendment pass? _____________ And what percentage of the vote will “yes” and “no” garner? ___________ You’ll get one point for correctly picking the result, and another point if you’re within 2 points of predicting the “yes” vote.

2) Who will have the biggest margin of victory over their Republican challengers: Gov. Wes Moore (D), State Comptroller Brooke Lierman (D), or Attorney General Anthony Brown (D)? _________________

3) Which of those three statewide incumbents will have the biggest raw vote? __________________

4) Who will win the 1st District race for the U.S. House, incumbent Republican Rep. Andy Harris or Dan Schwartz, the Democratic challenger? _______________  What will the victor’s percentage of the vote be? ___________ You’ll get one point for correctly picking the result, and another point if you’re within 2 points of predicting the winner’s percentage of the vote.

5) Which of Maryland’s other seven members of Congress will have the biggest margin of victory? _____________

6) Which of the other seven members of Congress will have the smallest margin of victory? _________________

7) Who will win the election for Frederick County executive – Democratic Jessica Fitzwater, the incumbent, or Jeff Holtzinger, the Republican challenger? ___________ Predict the margin of victory _______________ You’ll get one point for correctly picking the result, and another point if you’re within 2 points of predicting the winner’s percentage of the vote.

8) In the 2022 election for Harford County executive, Republican Bob Cassilly took 64.1% of the vote compared to 35.64% for Democrat Blaine Miller. Will Cassilly, who is seeking reelection, surpass that percentage of the vote in his race against Democrat Barbara Kreamer? __________

9) How many seats will Republicans win on the five-member Talbot County Council? ______________

10) How many seats will Republicans win on the seven-member Anne Arundel County Council? _______________

11) Who will have a bigger percentage of the vote, Julian Jones, the Democratic nominee for Baltimore County executive, or Allison Pickard, the Democratic nominee for Anne Arundel County executive? _______________

12) Who will win the District 30 state Senate race between incumbent Democratic Sen. Shaneka Henson and Republican challenger Jessica Haire? ____________

13) Apart from the District 30 Senate race, will any Senate incumbents lose their reelection bids? _______ If so, who will lose? ____________

14) Who will win the District 38B House of Delegates race in Wicomico County, between Del. Barry Beauchamp (R) and Wicomico County Councilmember Josh Hastings (D)? ____________

15) Who will win the District 30B House of Delegates race in Anne Arundel County, between Del. Seth Howard (R) and Democrat Matt Johnston? _______________

16) Who will win the District 29B House of Delegates open seat race in St. Mary’s County, between Democrat Adrianne Mathis and Republican BJ Hall? ___________

TIE-BREAKERS

• How many seats will Democrats hold in the House of Delegates? ____________
• How many seats will Democrats hold in the state Senate? _____________
• How many seats will Democrats hold in the U.S. Senate? _____________
• What percentage of the vote will Robin Ficker get in the 6th congressional district race? __________
• Who will be the first candidate to announce they’re running for governor in 2030? JUST KIDDING!!!

Seriously, that last one is just a joke. We don’t even want to start thinking about the 2030 elections. Or the 2028 presidential elections…? But if you can’t make a joke in the election contest, what’s the point?

Get your entries in today. It may be the only excitement to come from this election.