The maryland delegation

congressional officials …

Maryland has a small all-male but electorally stable congressional delegation.

Of the ten members in the 2022-2023 class, two are minority representation through the end of the year. Seven are lawyers, one is a former Speaker of the House of Delegates, one holds a medical degree, and four have Master’s degrees.

Harvard University has conferred five degrees - the highest received by any delegation member, while Johns Hopkins University has awarded four degrees, followed by the University of Maryland with two degrees.

The average tenure for the delegation is seven terms, assuming everyone completes their service through the end of 2024. The longest-serving member has been in Congress for 22 terms.

One member of the Maryland delegation is a freshman.  Senator Cardin has announced that he is not seeking re-election, and at least one House member has announced for Senator Cardin’s seat in 2024, as well as the former Governor of Maryland, Larry Hogan.

When you look at these profiles, we have given each a letter grade for their effort this Congress, based on various factors, which you will find in What Is Thomas Looking For? These letter grades are probably pretty familiar to you if you have ever been a school student (we hope the answer to that is we all have!)

If you see a meager score for a particular member, it will probably be due to one or two key factors: ethics challenges or anti-democratic behavior.

• Republicans have been hit hard on their lack of pushback on former President Trump and their support of election denying in the 2020 presidential campaign. The unanswered soaring deficit on their watch, the dismantling of allied relationships around the globe, and opposition to funding anti-authoritarian initiatives. The denial of climate change weighs heavily on us as well. We make no secret that transparency and Government in the Sunshine are important to us, and we further argue that some have been awful stewards of this category. For example, one of the ten Maryland delegation members voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results the same evening as Trump supporters stormed the United States Capitol.

• Democrats have been hit hard for their lack of progress on key matters because they do control the United States Senate and have a razor-close margin in the U.S. House of Representatives. They have not been, in our opinion, innovative or necessarily insistent on finding rational, reasonable solutions to the problems plaguing the American public today. We want to see more and better.

• Both have been dinged for being too partisan and not collaborative where evident. In our opinion, being too doctrinaire or an obstructionist to good government in the 21st century does not get one a good grade from Thomas.

We also indicate what we believe might be the outcome of these Members’ 2024 elections today. The overwhelming majority of House members were re-elected in 2022. One of the two United States Senator seats is open this season.

Our prospect ratings fall into three categories:

• Safe Bet - which means what it means. These members of Congress are running strong and look to be overwhelming prospects for re-election at this time. However, we reserve the right to re-categorize their chances if necessary.

• It’s A Race - means this race is too close to call, and we can not reasonably predict who will win this seat.

• Nudging - means the seat is leaning one way or another for this candidate. We have just a small number of current members of Congress in this category. Senator Cardin is included since his open seat will be a race in 2024. Stay tuned!

So, would you like to meet these fascinating Marylanders? If so, keep reading on!

what is thomas looking for?

Here is the vulnerable race we are watching in Maryland for 2024:

• MD06 - David Trone’s seat (Open currently D)

the senators

United States Senator Ben Cardin (d)

A former speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates, three-term U.S. Senator Ben Cardin is retiring in 2025 and will not be seeking re-election in 2024. A graduate of the University of Pittsburgh with a law degree from the University of Maryland, Cardin services on the Environment and Public Works Committee, the Finance Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, and is chair of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee. He is married and the father of two.

Thomas Take: Not Running for Re-Election in 2024 (Open Seat) - Nudging Democrat

Thomas Rank: B

Website

United states senator chris van hollen (D)

Maryland’s junior senator is serving his second term. A former long-time House member, Chris Van Hollen earned his undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College, an MPP degree from Harvard University, and his law degree from Georgetown University. Married and the father of three, the Senator serves on the Appropriations Committee, the Foreign Relations Committee, and the Budget Committee.

Thomas Take: Not up for re-election in 2024.

Thomas Rank: A

Website

the representatives