Maryland鈥檚 5th District has been represented by the same member of Congress since Ronald Reagan was president.
Over the past 47 years, Rep. Steny Hoyer has amassed the kind of power few in Congress are ever able to obtain, including two stints 鈥� totaling eight years 鈥� as House majority leader.
And when Hoyer announced he was retiring at the end of this term, he set off an avalanche of interest from Democrats, Republicans and Independents who hope to take his place.
Twenty-seven candidates 鈥� two dozen Democrats and three Republicans 鈥� are on the primary election ballot in the sprawling 5th District, which stretches from northern Prince George鈥檚 and western Anne Arundel counties through Southern Maryland.
The candidates also have expansive backgrounds. Some currently hold elected office, risking their current day jobs for this seat. Others work in the private sector, hoping to transition into politics.
And some have decades of experience in politics, while others only know what it鈥檚 like to duel politically with Trump-era Republicans.
Among the Democrats, many of them all share the same concerns. 海角社区app reached out to everyone running to get their views on a handful of issues, and then offered to sit down with candidates who had raised at least $200,000. Of those, Quincy Barebee and Harry Dunn weren’t available. The rest of the candidates spoke with 海角社区app.
What were the issues that mattered the most? Affordability and helping fed workers were two of the answers that came up a lot.
鈥淭he things that are affect us are broad,鈥� said former Prince George鈥檚 County Executive Rushern Baker. 鈥淎ffordability. When we talk about affordability, you know, that’s more than just one word. That’s housing. That’s the cost of gas prices that have gone up because of the wars that this president has gotten us into. It’s our electric bills which are going up because of data centers. We’re going to see our water bills going up. So people in the district are concerned about that, but they’re also concerned about transportation.鈥�
Red tape prohibits progress
Transportation also came up in other interviews, with state Sen. Arthur Ellis of Charles County touting his work to revive the once-dormant Southern Maryland Rapid Transit, a light rail line he鈥檚 been championing in Annapolis that would run from White Plains to the Branch Avenue Metro Station.
Another candidate, volunteer firefighter Harry Jarin of Edgewater, said the long, drawn out process 鈥� red tape is how some would describe it 鈥� to getting projects like that done is a textbook example of the lack of coordination between federal and local governments for completing those kinds of big projects in any reasonable amount of time and at a reasonable cost.
鈥淲e need federal policy and we need federal intervention in many cases to override local NIMBYism,鈥� Jarin said. 鈥淵ou have so many federal workers that are mandated back in the office five days a week. A lot of people moved out there during COVID when they could work from home. And the traffic is just a nightmare. I mean, people commuting two hours each direction. It’s atrocious.鈥�
The plight of federal workers also came up often. Ellis touted the second bill he ever introduced in the Maryland State Senate back in 2019, which protected furloughed feds from having utilities shut off and mortgages foreclosed on, as an example of the type of leadership he would bring to the district.
鈥淢y job going to Congress will be to get those fired workers their jobs back with back pay and with benefits,鈥� Ellis said. 鈥淎nd that will compensate them for that unconstitutional firing. Because all these federal programs and federal agencies were created by an act of Congress and funded in a bill through Congress. So the president does not have unilateral authority to just fire people.鈥�
Like Ellis, Baker said his experiences helping federal workers in Prince George鈥檚 County will also benefit the entire district.
鈥淚’ve been through a Trump shutdown and got workers, federal workers help,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淚’ve been through a Trump administration where we actually did transportation and built the Purple Line. I’ve been through the Trump administration when Congress wasn’t helping out, and we actually put money aside for the FBI to come here.鈥�
An original ‘Bernie bro.’
Some of the most progressive stances taken in the race are coming from Prince George鈥檚 County at-large member Wala Blegay. Calling herself one of the original 鈥淏ernie bros,鈥� she rattled off a large list of causes she intends to fight for if elected.
鈥淲hen we push for Medicare for All, we push for taxing the billionaires,鈥� Blegay said. 鈥淎ll of those things. Free community college, even universal childcare. It was kind of like, 鈥榳e can’t afford that.鈥� But now at a time like this, people are seeing why those policies work.鈥�
Blegay also has the backing of several unions around the district, and has made free healthcare and other populist proposals central to her campaign.
鈥淭ax the billionaires,鈥� said Blegay. 鈥淚mplement the wealth tax.鈥�
The contending candidates are running in a District considered a very safe seat for Democrats, with a 17-point registration advantage at a time when President Trump鈥檚 popularity has sunk, especially among independents. Yet voters around the country still talk about significant frustration with the Democratic Party, suggesting at least some of the momentum they might have right now is more because they happen to be the alternative out of power as opposed to being the party that鈥檚 embraced by the electorate. No one really disputed that.
鈥淭he Democratic Party has not provided solutions. They’ve been just anti Trump,鈥� Blegay said. 鈥淏ut the problem is that what happens when we become the majority? Are we just going to say we’re anti Trump or are we going to implement policies that make a difference?鈥�
鈥淚 don’t like my party either. I’ve been battling my party,鈥� said Ellis, who then pointed out his frustration with Maryland state Senate President Bill Ferguson over redistricting this year.
鈥淒emocrats have been running like scared people. They’re frightened.鈥�
Meanwhile Del. Adrian Boafo and Jarin, two candidates in their 30s, both faulted Democrats for losing sight of voters who used to be the backbone of the party, costing them the backing of younger men who voted for President Trump in 2024.
鈥淎s Democrats, sometimes we don’t talk about the issues that are top of mind to people. In 2024, it took us about seven months into the election to start talking about the economy,鈥� said Boafo, who is endorsed by Hoyer, Gov. Wes Moore, and U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks. 鈥淭hat’s a problem for Democrats. And I think part of the solution here is the new generation of folks who understand deeply what it feels like to live in this economy. I tell folks, for the first time in American history, young people, people in my generation, are worse off than ever before.鈥�
‘Deradicalizing’ the GOP
Jarin, who is a consultant and grant writer for firefighters for his day job, pointed to MAGA leanings inside the firehouses he鈥檚 worked in as another example of Democrats losing focus. Despite being married to a former high-ranking director with the DNC who later was appointed to a position in the Treasury Department by President Biden, Jarin vowed to aggressively work to marginalize the Republican Party until it鈥檚 鈥渄e-radicalized鈥� the same way he said Germany rid itself of the Nazis after World War II.
鈥淭hey are a fascist movement. They cannot be reasoned with or dealt with in any way. They are much closer to a cult of personality,鈥� Jarin said.
鈥淲e’re going to have to go through a very severe deradicalization of our politics if we’re going to be able to move forward as a democracy and there’s really no other way,” Jarin said. “And I understand that most Democratic candidates are not talking in these terms, but I want people to understand that that’s the seriousness of what we’re dealing with. We can’t have a two-party system where one party is completely off the reservation and doesn’t accept the basic principles of electoral politics as legitimate.”
Both Boafo and Baker agreed that partisanship has been bad for America, and said federal laws regarding voting and voting rights need to be a priority if Democrats can take control.
鈥淒e-gerrymandering America, making sure that we end Citizens United once and for all and get money out of politics, doing that kind of stuff to safeguard our system,鈥� is some of the solutions Boafo proposed. 鈥淏ut then, more importantly, moving forward, elect people who want to actually be in Congress to serve. Not necessarily there to be celebrities, not necessarily there just to be hyper partisan, but people who want to actually solve issues.鈥�
Baker said Supreme Court decisions and passing a new Voting Rights Act is among his highest priorities, in ways that it wasn鈥檛 just a few months ago.
Court ruling are “going to push us back 20 years or 30 years or even 100,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou think about the representation we’re going to lose, especially not only in the south, but also in some northern states.鈥�
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