By Adam Pagnucco.
As a political writer, I love living in State Legislative District 18. It’s never boring here! Over the past 30 years, the district has seen contested elections in the senate or the house – often both – in every single cycle, including numerous appointments to fill vacancies. The survivors of these battles often went on to play major roles in Annapolis and beyond, including former Delegate Jon Hurson (house majority leader, committee chair), former Senator and Delegate Rich Madaleno (committee vice-chair, now chief administrative officer in county government) and of course Chris Van Hollen (too many important positions to list). So what was going to happen this year?
You guessed it, another big battle in District 18.
Aside from a controversial last-second appointment, the delegate race did not see electoral competition. Instead, all eyes were on the state senate race, pitting incumbent Jeff Waldstreicher against newcomer Max Socol. Waldstreicher had served three terms in the house and was finishing his first term in the senate. Socol, a progressive Jewish organizer who moved to the district last year, challenged him from the left. This was the county’s highest profile race for the state legislature in this cycle.
It’s worth noting the recent history of state senate races in District 18. This is the third barnburner in a row after Madaleno’s defeat of Dana Beyer in 2014 and Waldstreicher’s defeat of Beyer in 2018. In those races, Beyer won much of the northern part of the district (Wheaton and Rockville) but was clobbered on Connecticut Avenue. What would happen this time?
First, let’s review District 18’s geography. The district has four main parts: Chevy Chase, Kensington, Wheaton and the area near Georgia Avenue south of Wheaton (which is here referred to as Silver Spring). There are also outlying precincts in Rockville (4 of them), North Bethesda (2) and Bethesda (1). The chart below shows the distribution of votes cast in each of these areas in the 2022 primary.
The four main parts of the district all cast between a fifth and a quarter of the votes but they are not equal. Chevy Chase and Kensington have several municipal governments as well as higher turnout rates and more money for political contributions than Silver Spring and Wheaton. It’s not an accident that every single state legislator who has represented the district since 1975 except for Senator Pat Sher and Delegate Helen Koss have come from Chevy Chase or Kensington.
There are also huge differences in demographics between the Big Four. The White percentage of the adult population is 77% in the Chevy Chase precincts, 65% in the Kensington precincts, 45% in the Silver Spring precincts and 21% in the Wheaton precincts. In contrast, the Latino percentage of the adult population is 7% in the Chevy Chase precincts, 16% in the Kensington precincts, 21% in the Silver Spring precincts and 44% in the Wheaton precincts.
How did all this play out this year? We will find out in Part Two.