The polls have closed in the 2024 Maryland primary election, held on Tuesday, May 14. To nobody’s surprise, President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump are the voters’ choices to face off in this year’s general election in November. In the race for the state’s open Senate seat, Republican Larry Hogan, the former governor, will face off against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks, Prince George’s county executive. And in the District 1 Congressional primary, incumbent Andy Harris easily won the voters’ approval for the Republican ballot slot, while newcomer Blaine H. Miller III won the Democratic voters’ nod. U.S. Senate The most closely watched race was the U.S. Senate primary, where the winner will replace long-time Democratic Senator Ben Cardin. With the Democrats holding a slim one-seat margin in the current Senate, the Maryland result in November could well determine which party holds the majority in the Senate for the next two years, if not longer. Hogan is the rare Republican who seems to appeal across party lines in solidly Democratic Maryland. In the Republican primary, Hogan took 60% of the votes in a seven-candidate field, his closest rival being perennial candidate Robin Ficker, who — in contrast to Hogan — aligned himself with Trump. Hogan has been trying to position himself as a moderate, saying only recently, for example, that he would work to restore Roe v. Wade if elected to the Senate — although, as governor, he vetoed several measures that would have ensured access to abortion in Maryland. His record is essentially that of a traditional business-oriented conservative Republican. It seems a good bet that most Republicans, including the Ficker voters, will stick with the party line and vote for Hogan come November. Alsobrooks parlayed strong support from Gov. Wes Moore and the state’s Democratic party establishment to defeat Rep. David Trone (MD-6) and eight other candidates. She soundly defeated Trone, 54% to 43%. None of the other candidates received more than 1% of the votes. If elected in November, she would be the second woman and the first African American to represent Maryland in the Senate. Once in office, she has pledged to co-sponsor the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would establish legal protection on the federal level for abortion rights. Given Hogan’s previous popularity state-wide, Alsobrooks will have her work cut out for her. Support from the national Democratic party would be a significant asset for her campaign, as would a strong get-out-the-vote effort. While the state is reliably Democratic, in what promises to be a close race, independent voters will be unusually important. Trone, a successful businessman and the current 6th District congressman, spent more than $60 million of his own money on his campaign, with numerous ads in TV, newspapers, and social media. His ads presented him as a champion of working people and retirees, and as the candidate best positioned to defeat Hogan in November. In contrast, Alsobrooks began her media campaign much later, and spent roughly one-tenth as much as Trone, showing that money doesn’t always decide the outcome. Trone won all the Eastern Shore counties. Trone and Alsobrooks were tied in Kent County with 722 votes apiece before absentee ballots gave him the lead, by a final margin of 24 votes. How many of those Trone voters will remain faithful to the Democratic candidate and how many will switch their votes to Hogan is unknown. President Both Biden and Trump won their races easily. That’s no surprise, since both are at this point their party’s presumed candidates in the November election. However, both the Democratic and Republican primaries saw a fair number of voters opting for someone other than the probable nominee. In the Democratic primary, Biden took 87% of the vote. Most of the rest of the total went to “uncommitted,” with two relative unknowns receiving just over 1% each. In the Republican primary, Trump won just over 78%, with former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley — who withdrew from the race several weeks ago — taking the rest. It’s not clear how to interpret these results, other than the obvious fact that a number of voters aren’t happy with their party’s choices for November. Conceivably, some proportion of these voters — especially those who went for Haley — simply haven’t been paying attention to the news. But other voters object to their party’s probable nominee for any of several reasons. Some see both candidates as too old. Many Democrats are unhappy with the Biden administration’s reactions to the Israel-Gaza war. And many Republicans have soured on Trump in response to the criminal charges he faces, or because of his record while in office. The interesting question is what these dissatisfied voters are likely to do in November. Will they sit out the election? Will they “come home” to their party’s nominee? Will they cast a protest vote for some third-party candidate? Or will they cross party lines and vote for the other major-party candidate? The answer varies from voter to voter, of course, and many of them probably won’t decide what they’re doing until November. In a reliably Blue state like Maryland, it won’t affect the ultimate result in the presidential race. But in swing states, which are crucial to the nationwide outcome, it could make all the difference. 1st District U.S. Congress Finally, it looks as if Republican incumbent Andy Harris is set to coast to another term in Congress. He received nearly 78% of primary votes, with Chris Bruneau Sr. taking 16% and Michael Scott Lemon 6%. In the Democratic primary, Blaine Miller won with 61% over Blessing T. Oluwadare with 39%. The figure that may be most telling is that 36,122 Democrats voted in the congressional primary compared to 41,681 in the presidential race. To put it bluntly, more than 5,000 Democrats weren’t inspired to vote for either of the two District 1 congressional contenders. That doesn’t say much for Miller’s chances to eject Harris from Congress. It’s a good long stretch from now to the general election, and there are bound to be a few surprises along the way. But for Marylanders, it looks as if the senatorial contest will be the hardest fought, with Hogan hoping his appeal to voters of the opposite party remains strong and Alsobrooks highlighting her administrative experience and proven support of reproductive rights, jobs, education, and access to healthcare. The primary is now over, with a Democratic slate of Biden for President, Alsobrooks for Senate, and Miller for 1st District in Congress taking on the Republican ticket of Trump, Hogan, and Harris. Keep reading Common Sense for regular updates on all the issues and candidates. Peter Heck is a Chestertown-based writer and editor, who spent 10 years at the Kent County News and three more with the Chestertown Spy. He is the author of 10 novels and co-author of four plays, a book reviewer for Asimov’s and Kirkus Reviews, and an incorrigible guitarist.

The Freedom to Read Act was signed into law by the governor in April. House Bill 785 passed by a largely party-line vote of 100-36. The cross-filed Senate Bill 738 passed by a vote of 36-10, showing overwhelming support for measures to combat right-wing book banning trends.

Dear President Biden, Although we are roughly of an age and live within an hour of each other, we have never met in person. My first memory of you was during the hearings in the U.S. Senate to decide whether Clarence Thomas was an acceptable candidate for the Supreme Court. I can only imagine that those days continue to haunt both of us. Diplomacy has since become your middle name. You were a strong vice president, a valuable resource for a young, inexperienced president who made good use of your insight and years of service to foster a bi-partisan view of governing. You helped him become a better national leader. As you enter the last months of your first term as chief executive, you are at the center of unnumbered crises, both at home and abroad. It cannot be easy to keep your head focused on so many important issues while disparate voices shout at you to do their bidding or lose their support. I am especially concerned about how we stand by our allies without supporting their militaristic agenda. We should have learned since 9/11 that striking out in anger and revenge accomplishes nothing, and we should support teaching that lesson to every country that would try to repeat our mistake. From my perspective, you have accomplished a great many positive outcomes during these few years, beginning with an all-out assault on the covid pandemic that saw the effects of trusting science and letting the experts direct the medical issue. You have managed to pass significant bi-partisan legislation designed to move the country forward so that everyone will benefit and life will be more equitable for all. It is not a perfect record, but it is a very solid start. The next six months will be crucial to our country, as we prepare for another pivotal election. I know that I do not speak for everyone, but I am also sure that I speak for many when I implore you to spend this time focused on the positive, not the personal. The message voters want to hear is not about your opponent and his failures, both personal and professional; they need to be reminded of the good things that have happened since you took office. The message your campaign should be sending to the people is how you are planning to build on the past three-plus years to create something even better. The view you project should always be one that is looking forward with hope and confidence. As you would probably say, “We are the United States of America, and we can do anything that we put our minds and hearts to.” Sincerely yours, Lanetta (Lanny) Parks Lanny Parks has always loved books. She was a librarian at the EPFL in Baltimore, at Kent School, and Queen Anne’s County, and owned a local bookstore. Her weekly newspaper column ran for over 20 years. She has lived with her family in Chestertown for over 50 years.

Most nations have at least one national holiday to celebrate their independence or constitution. The United States may be said to have two Independence Days, one on July 4 and another on June 19. That second holiday is, of course, Juneteenth. That day has become America’s celebration of African Americans’ freedom from slavery. In January 1863, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation that freed enslaved people in the Confederate States. Because enslavement was protected by the Constitution (Art. I, sect. 2), Lincoln used his Constitutional power as commander-in-chief to free the formerly enslaved by taking them into the U.S. military. Once in the Army or Navy, the liberated people were the commander-in-chief’s responsibility. Because news did not travel then as fast as it does now, reports of Grant’s victory at Appomattox took some time to spread, especially to the West. On June 19, 1865, in Galveston, Tex., Major General Gordon Granger announced: The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The next year in Texas, on June 19, 1866, African Americans celebrated their liberation on what they called “Jubilee Day.” The festivities included orations, religious and prayer services, picnics, dancing, food, and music. As Black people moved to other locations in the nation, the celebrations moved with them. In 1872 in Houston, four Black church leaders bought land on which to celebrate the end of slavery, and that land eventually became Emancipation Park . Jim Crow laws, Black migration out of Texas, Reconstruction’s racial prejudice all diminished Jubilee and Juneteenth celebrations. But it was Texas governor James Allred who in 1938 proclaimed June 20 as Emancipation Day. Then Juneteenth celebrations increased during the Civil Rights decades of the 1950’s and 1960’s. In 1968 the Poor People’s Campaign organized a Solidarity Day rally for June 19 in Washington, D.C.; at least 50,000 attended. In 1980, Texas became the first state to designate Juneteenth as a holiday. All 50 states and the District of Columbia now recognize the day in some form. Perhaps one of the more interesting Juneteenth celebrations is Portland’s Black rodeo, called the Eight Seconds Rodeo (“A lot can happen in 8 seconds”). In June 2021, Galveston dedicated a huge downtown mural honoring Juneteenth. In May of this year, Southern Methodist University awarded Opal Lee (born October 7, 1926), an activist and a retired teacher, an honorary Doctor of Laws degree . On June 16, 2016, she began a series of two-and-a-half mile walks in places around the country. She chose the distance because it took that many months for the news to reach Texas that slavery had ended. Three years ago, President Biden signed a law making June 19 a national holiday. He mentioned Lee at the law’s signing, identifying her with the popular label as the “grandmother” of Juneteenth. Last year, North Texas University, where Lee earned her M.Ed., awarded her an honorary doctoral degree. Eastern Shore readers looking to celebrate Juneteenth have at least these choices. Click the links for more information. In Salisbury, Md . In Exmore, Va. In Easton In Centreville In Chestertown . See also here . Jim Block taught English at Northfield Mount Hermon, a boarding school in Western Mass. He coached cross-country and advised the newspaper and the debate society there. He taught at Marlborough College in England and Robert College in Istanbul. He and his wife retired to Chestertown, Md., in 2014.

Maryland ranks as one of the best states for workers, but there is still room for improvement, according to an annual ranking from Oxfam, a global organization focused on inequality and poverty.