LEONARDTOWN — Republican Roy H. Alvey is in line to succeed Randy Guy as president of the Commissioners of St. Mary’s County, leading Democrat AnnMarie Abell by about 5,500 votes after Tuesday’s general election, according to unofficial results from the Maryland State Board of Elections.
With all 27 Election Day precincts counted, along with early votes and the mail-in ballots processed so far, Alvey had 21,044 votes, or 57.5%, to Abell’s 15,545, or 42.5%. Republicans also led in all four district commissioner races, and Sheriff Steve Hall led Democrat Carl Sturgis with 65.3%, according to the state’s St. Mary’s results page, last updated at 9:21 a.m. Wednesday.
The results are not final. Mail-in ballots that arrive after Election Day and provisional ballots still have to be counted, starting Thursday, and results will not be certified until later this month. Every commissioner race is separated by more than 2,800 votes, more than the total number of mail-in ballots counted in the county so far.
A replacement nominee leads
The presidency was open because Guy is term-limited after 12 years leading the board. Guy has said his last meeting will be Nov. 17, and his successor takes the chair Dec. 1.
Alvey was not the Republican nominee when summer began. Former Commissioner Tom Jarboe won the June primary with 2,823 votes to Alvey’s 2,119, according to official returns compiled by the Maryland State Archives. Jarboe died Aug. 5 at age 57, and the St. Mary’s County Republican Central Committee chose Alvey to take his place on the ballot. Abell was unopposed in the Democratic primary.
The next board faces a tight budget. Commissioner Scott Ostrow said last week that school leaders had warned of a roughly $19 million state funding gap heading into the fiscal 2028 budget.
The district races
All five St. Mary’s commissioners are elected countywide; the four district members must live in their districts. Three incumbents were on the ballot, according to the Maryland Association of Counties, and two of them led.
In District 1, Commissioner Eric Scott Colvin led Democrat Sheila Milburn 60.4% to 39.6%, the widest margin of any commissioner race. In District 4, Commissioner Scott R. Ostrow led Democrat Ryan B. Daniels 55.6% to 44.2%. In District 2, Republican Tom Phelan, who beat former Commissioner Thomas McKay in the primary, led Democrat Brandon Russell 55.6% to 44.4%.
The third incumbent, District 3 Commissioner Mike Alderson Jr., finished third with 15.1%. Alderson ran unaffiliated because of a federal employment conflict, according to the Maryland Association of Counties. Republican John O’Connor, a former commissioner, led Democrat Joshua Kyte by 2,868 votes, 46.3% to 38.5%.
| Race | Candidate | Party | Votes | Pct. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | Roy H. Alvey | Republican | 21,044 | 57.5% |
| President | AnnMarie Abell | Democrat | 15,545 | 42.5% |
| District 1 | Eric Scott Colvin | Republican | 22,071 | 60.4% |
| District 1 | Sheila Milburn | Democrat | 14,465 | 39.6% |
| District 2 | Tom Phelan | Republican | 20,275 | 55.6% |
| District 2 | Brandon Russell | Democrat | 16,205 | 44.4% |
| District 3 | John O’Connor | Republican | 16,893 | 46.3% |
| District 3 | Joshua Kyte | Democrat | 14,025 | 38.5% |
| District 3 | Mike Alderson Jr. | Unaffiliated | 5,513 | 15.1% |
| District 4 | Scott R. Ostrow | Republican | 20,236 | 55.6% |
| District 4 | Ryan B. Daniels | Democrat | 16,080 | 44.2% |
Close early, decided at the polls
When the first results posted Tuesday night, the presidency and three district races were within a few hundred votes, the Chronicle reported in its live results coverage. Election Day votes then moved every race toward the Republicans.
District 3 shows the pattern. Kyte won the mail-in ballots counted so far, 1,478 to 603, and O’Connor edged him among early voters, 6,148 to 5,876. On Election Day, O’Connor outpolled Kyte 10,142 to 6,671.
Election Day was the largest share of the vote. In the governor’s race, about 20,200 St. Mary’s voters cast ballots at the polls Tuesday, compared with about 14,200 early votes and about 2,300 mail-in ballots counted so far.
Sheriff and other county offices
Hall led Sturgis 23,746 to 12,587 in the only contested race for a countywide row office. Hall leads an agency whose budget reached $72.7 million in fiscal 2026, up 9.3%, according to the office’s annual report.
State’s Attorney Jaymi Sterling, Treasurer Christy Kelly, Clerk of the Circuit Court Debbie Mills Burch and Register of Wills Phyllis A. Superior, all Republicans, had no opponent on the ballot. Kevin R. Hill was the only candidate for a 7th Judicial Circuit judgeship on the St. Mary’s ballot.
For three Orphans’ Court seats, Republicans Bill Mattingly (20,352), Albert “Allie” Babcock (17,102) and Michael R. White (16,152) led. Democrat Curtis J. King was fourth with 15,302, 850 votes behind White. On the Board of Education, Liz Cooper led Dorothy Andrews for the District 1 seat 53.7% to 45.3%, and Kim D. Summers was unopposed in District 3.
Judge Dan Friedman of the Appellate Court of Maryland was winning retention, with 83.0% of St. Mary’s voters voting yes.
State and federal races
St. Mary’s voters favored Republicans in the statewide and congressional races, but those candidates trailed statewide or across their districts.
- Governor: Republican Dan Cox carried St. Mary’s 57.6% to 37.8%. Statewide, Democratic Gov. Wes Moore led Cox 62.6% to 33.2% with 1,968 of 1,979 precincts reporting.
- Congress, 5th District: Republican Chris Chaffee carried St. Mary’s 57.7% to 41.9%, but Democrat Adrian Boafo led 68.5% to 30.9% across the district, with all 227 precincts in, in the race to succeed retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer. Hoyer voted in Mechanicsville in June without his own name on the ballot for the first time in decades.
In the General Assembly races drawn in St. Mary’s, the results were mixed:
- Senate District 29: Republican Jack Bailey led Democrat Chuck Borges 57.7% to 42.3% across the district, which includes part of Calvert (voter guide).
- House District 29A: Republican Del. Matt Morgan led Democrat Jennifer Clancy 68.0% to 32.0% (voter guide).
- House District 29B: Democrat Adrianne M. Mathis led Republican BJ Hall 57.1% to 42.8%, the one Democratic lead in a St. Mary’s legislative race.
- House District 29C: Republican Todd B. Morgan led Democrat Shaara Watts 59.4% to 40.4% across the St. Mary’s and Calvert parts of the district (voter guide).
On the three proposed constitutional amendments, which are described by the State Board of Elections, St. Mary’s backed Question 1, on funding state employee bargaining agreements, 62.5% to 37.5%. Question 2, allowing temporary members of the Commission on Judicial Disabilities, passed in the county by 690 votes. St. Mary’s rejected Question 3, on review of congressional maps, 59.3% to 40.7%, while it was passing statewide with 60.1%.
What happens next
The St. Mary’s County Board of Elections has scheduled a canvass of mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day for 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, a provisional ballot canvass for 10 a.m. Nov. 12 and a final canvass for 10 a.m. Nov. 13, all at its Leonardtown office.
Under the state election calendar, mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day count if they arrive by 10 a.m. Nov. 13. Local boards begin certifying results that day, and the State Board of Canvassers is scheduled to certify statewide results Dec. 3.
All results in this story are unofficial. Full race-by-race returns are in the Chronicle’s St. Mary’s election results page.
