Politics

Heading into what could be the final day of ballot counting in Frederick County, Democrat Jessica Fitzwater trailed Republican Michael Hough by 862 votes — less than 1 percentage point — in the race for county executive, results from ballot counting on Thursday show. Fitzwater, a two-term County Council member, was behind Hough, a two-term state senator, by more than 1,500 votes after ballot counting on Wednesday.

After the third day of Harford County Board of Elections ballot canvassing, former Harford delegate Mary-Dulany James, a Democrat, is now leading former Baltimore County delegate Christian Miele, a Republican, in the race for District 34′s seat in the state Senate. Up to this point, Miele led in the race, but James has jumped into the lead by a mere 103 votes, with 50% of the total vote to Miele’s 49.7%.

Incumbent Del. Heather Bagnall jumped ahead of her opponent Kerry Gillespie in the Maryland District 33C House of Delegates race by around 500 votes on Wednesday, setting all Anne Arundel incumbents in the General Assembly on pace to reclaim their seats. Bagnall, a Democrat in her first term, trailed Gillespie, a Republican, by more than 1,100 votes among early and Election Day voters. After Tuesday’s ballot canvass at the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections office in Glen Burnie, the returns put Bagnall, a Democrat, ahead 9,082 votes to 8,587 votes.

As a Friday deadline to certify Anne Arundel County elections looms, the county elections board is rushing to count 24,000 remaining mail-in ballots. Since canvassing began Nov. 10, the process has been plagued with delays and hamstrung by a decision of the five-member Anne Arundel County Board of Elections to wait to count mail-in ballots until after Election Day.

Maryland’s licensing requirement for would-be handgun buyers infringes upon the constitutional right of people to keep arms for personal protection in their home and has no historical roots from either 18th- or 19th-century America, gun rights advocates told a federal appeals court Wednesday. Maryland Shall Issue made its argument as the 4th Circuit considers whether the state’s handgun qualification license, or HQL, comports with the Second Amendment and its most recent interpretation by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Annapolis state Sen. Sarah Elfreth declared victory in her reelection bid Tuesday and District 33 candidate Dawn Gile took the lead in her senate race as Democrats continued to pull ahead, according to mail-in ballot returns from the Anne Arundel County Board of Elections. Elfreth, who is seeking a second term to represent District 30, has maintained a lead over her challenger, Republican Stacie MacDonald, since mail-in ballot canvassing began Thursday. She leads by 5,000 votes.