{"id":1517636,"date":"2026-06-23T08:16:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?guid=f8d515fcef549bd8f1320998413bcc4f"},"modified":"2026-06-23T08:38:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T13:38:57","slug":"race-to-replace-hoyer-tops-maryland-primaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1517636","title":{"rendered":"Race to replace Hoyer tops Maryland primaries"},"content":{"rendered":"
Steny Hoyer arrives in Christianborg Palace on January 16, 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo by Martin Sylvest Andersen\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>

(WASHINGTON) -- At the beginning of this year, after spending more than four decades in Congress and serving as the number two Democrat in the House under Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Steny Hoyer, 87, announced his plans to retire at the end of his current term.<\/p>

Hoyer's announcement instantly launched a crowded race to replace him in southern Maryland\u2019s deep-blue 5th Congressional District, which has ballooned to include more than 20 Democratic primary candidates. Voters head to the polls Tuesday to decide who will be the Democratic nominee for Hoyer\u2019s seat, as well as other federal, state and local offices on the ballot in Maryland\u2019s midterm primary election.<\/p>

Shortly after announcing his retirement, Hoyer chose his intended successor -- the longtime Democrat endorsed his former aide Maryland state Del. Adrian Boafo. The district is unlikely to elect a Republican, so whoever wins the Democratic primary is on a glide path to victory in November.<\/p>

Boafo, who served as Hoyer\u2019s campaign manager, also picked up endorsements from other Democratic heavyweights in the state like Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks.<\/p>

Those running against Boafo include former Prince George\u2019s County Executive Rushern Baker, healthcare CEO Quincy Bareebe, Prince George\u2019s County Councilwoman Wala Blegay and former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, who rose to national prominence for his testimony in congressional hearings about defending the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection. Dunn ran for the House in the 3rd District in 2024 and finished second in the Democratic primary.<\/p>

The debate over the influence of pro-Israel and pro-cryptocurrency super PAC money has played a central role in the race to replace Hoyer, as Boafo\u2019s opponents have criticized the millions of dollars his campaign has received from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee\u2019s United Democracy Project (UDP) PAC and Protect Progress, a crypto-aligned super PAC.<\/p>

\"Adrian has spent the last year laser-focused on the issues impacting Marylanders. His opponents continue to try and make the race about anything else besides what this race is actually about: the people of this district and the real need to have a fighter who stands up to this President,\" Boafo's campaign manager, Oren Adams, told ABC News in a statement.<\/p>

In the northwest part of the state, former Rep. David Trone -- who gave up his seat representing Maryland\u2019s 6th District to launch an unsuccessful run for Senate in 2024 -- is trying to make a political comeback after losing to Alsobrooks in the 2024 Democratic primary. Trone, a businessman who has self-funded his campaigns to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, is hoping to reclaim his seat from his successor, Rep. April McClain-Delaney, the wife of former Rep. John Delaney, who also once represented the 6th District before leaving to seek higher office.<\/p>

At the top of the ballot, Moore seeks the Democratic nomination for what would be his second term in the governor\u2019s mansion. The high-profile governor is seeking re-election as his name continues to be floated as a potential contender for the Democratic nomination for president in 2028.<\/p>

Copyright \u00a9 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steny Hoyer arrives in Christianborg Palace on January 16, 2026 in Copenhagen, Denmark. (Photo by Martin Sylvest Andersen\/Getty Images)(WASHINGTON) — At the beginning of this year, after spending more than four decades in Congress and serving as the n…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8218,"featured_media":1517646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2026\/06\/43986f541294b5e80a8dafd311a08c0b.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1502,1449],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1517636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-heads","category-abc-political-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 13:52:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/wp-content\/media\/2026\/06\/43986f541294b5e80a8dafd311a08c0b.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8218"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1517636"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1517647,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1517636\/revisions\/1517647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1517646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1517636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1517636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1517636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}