ANNAPOLIS — Gov. Wes Moore won a second term across Maryland, but Southern Maryland split down the middle again, and the gap between its counties grew.
Calvert and St. Mary’s voters backed Republican Dan Cox in Tuesday’s rematch of the 2022 governor’s race, and by wider margins than four years ago. Charles County went heavily for Moore, and by a wider margin than last time, according to unofficial results from the Maryland State Board of Elections.
Statewide, Moore and running mate Aruna Miller had 1,163,909 votes, or 62.6%, to 617,114, or 33.2%, for Cox and Rob Krop, with 1,968 of 1,979 Election Day precincts reporting as of 9:21 a.m. Wednesday.
Three counties, two directions
| County | Moore 2026 | Cox 2026 | Moore 2022 | Cox 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calvert | 40.3% | 55.6% | 44.6% | 52.3% |
| Charles | 70.8% | 24.9% | 68.6% | 29.0% |
| St. Mary’s | 37.8% | 57.6% | 39.9% | 56.1% |
| Maryland | 62.6% | 33.2% | 64.5% | 32.1% |
In Calvert, Cox led 18,893 to 13,680, a margin of about 15 points, up from 8 points in 2022, according to the Calvert results. In St. Mary’s, he led 21,169 to 13,905, a margin of nearly 20 points, up from about 16, per the St. Mary’s results.
Charles went the other way. Moore led 42,060 to 14,802, a margin of about 46 points, up from roughly 40 in 2022, according to the Charles results. Combined, the three counties gave Moore 69,645 votes to Cox’s 54,864.
One caution on the comparison: the 2022 numbers are final, while this year’s still exclude provisional ballots and mail-in ballots not yet counted. Mail-in ballots counted so far have favored Moore. In Calvert, for example, he led Cox 2,015 to 864 among mail-in votes, so late-counted ballots could narrow Cox’s margins in Calvert and St. Mary’s.
The split runs down the ballot
The same divide showed up in the other statewide and federal races. Calvert and St. Mary’s voters favored Republicans Sonya Dunn for comptroller and James B. Rutledge III for attorney general, even as Democrats Brooke Lierman and Anthony G. Brown won easily statewide. In the 5th Congressional District, Republican Chris Chaffee carried Calvert and St. Mary’s, while Charles helped Democrat Adrian Boafo to a wide lead.
There were exceptions. In Calvert, Democrat Margaret H. Phipps led Republican Mark S. Lynch for register of wills, 18,714 to 14,758. Voters in all three counties also approved Question 1, the state employee arbitration amendment, by wide margins.
Local races followed the regional pattern. Republicans lead all Calvert commissioner races and every St. Mary’s commissioner seat, while Democrats lead in Charles, according to the Chronicle’s roundups for Calvert, St. Mary’s and Charles.
Moore’s statewide share slipped slightly from 2022, when he won 64.5% in his first race for governor, according to official 2022 results. Cox’s statewide share rose by about a point.
The count is not done. In St. Mary’s, the elections board scheduled a mail-in ballot canvass for Nov. 5, a provisional ballot canvass for Nov. 12 and a final canvass Nov. 13, according to a county release.
