LEONARDTOWN — Sheriff Steve Hall is headed for another term as St. Mary’s County’s top law enforcement officer, holding nearly two-thirds of the vote over Democratic challenger Carl Sturgis in unofficial returns.
Hall, a Republican, has 23,746 votes, or 65.3%, to Sturgis’ 12,587, or 34.6%, with all 27 Election Day precincts reported, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections. His 11,159-vote margin is roughly five times the number of mail-in ballots counted in the race so far, 2,311, which leaves late ballots little room to change the outcome.
Hall ran well ahead of the top of his party’s ticket. Republican Dan Cox carried St. Mary’s in the governor’s race with 57.6%, and Hall topped Cox’s vote totals both on Election Day and in early voting. Sturgis won the mail-in count, 1,268 to 1,040.
These results cover offices below the Board of County Commissioners. The Chronicle reported separately that Republicans lead every St. Mary’s commissioner seat, with Roy Alvey ahead in the race for commissioner president.
School board
In the nonpartisan race for the District 1 seat on the Board of Education, Liz Cooper leads Dorothy Andrews 15,742 votes to 13,266, a margin of 2,476. Cooper led in every category of ballot, including a 1,052-to-710 edge in mail-in votes.
Kim D. Summers had no opponent for the District 3 seat and received 26,554 votes.
Orphans’ Court
Voters pick three judges for the Orphans’ Court, which handles estates and wills. Three Republicans hold the top spots, but the last seat is the closest race on the St. Mary’s down-ballot.
Orphans’ Court (vote for 3) Party Mail-in Total Share Bill Mattingly Republican 910 20,352 29.4% Albert “Allie” Babcock Republican 729 17,102 24.7% Michael R. White Republican 695 16,152 23.3% Curtis J. King Democratic 1,533 15,302 22.1%
Michael R. White holds the third seat by 850 votes over Democrat Curtis J. King. King has won the mail-in count so far by more than 2-to-1 over White, 1,533 to 695, so the remaining mail-in ballots are the one place the order could change. To overtake White, King would need to keep winning late mail-in ballots by a wide margin, and those ballots would have to number in the thousands.
Unopposed on the ballot
Four countywide candidates and one judge had no opponent. Republicans Christy Kelly for treasurer, Jaymi Sterling for state’s attorney, Debbie Mills Burch for clerk of the Circuit Court and Phyllis A. Superior for register of wills each drew about 28,000 votes. Judge Kevin R. Hill, running for the 7th Circuit Court seat, received 27,891.
On the statewide ballot questions, St. Mary’s voters approved Question 1 and narrowly approved Question 2 with 51%, but rejected Question 3, the congressional redistricting amendment, with 59.3% voting no. Question 3 passed statewide.
The St. Mary’s County Board of Elections is scheduled to count mail-in ballots received after Election Day at its canvass Thursday at 10 a.m. Results are unofficial until the board certifies them, and updated counts will post on the state results site. The Chronicle’s election-night St. Mary’s returns track how the count unfolded.
