Welcome to the Monday, July 18, Brew.
By: Samuel Wonacott
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- A look at tomorrow’s Maryland primaries
- Biden White House has 474 employees
- The Democratic candidates who raised the most money for state legislative House races in 10 states
A look at tomorrow’s Maryland primaries
Maryland is the only state holding statewide primaries in July. The pace of primary elections will quicken in August, and we’ll have more about those elections as we get closer to the end of the month. For now, let’s see what’s on the ballot in Maryland on July 19. Maryland will be the 31st state with a statewide primary this year.
Congress
Voters will decide Republican and Democratic primaries for one U.S. Senate seat and all eight U.S. House districts. Incumbent Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D) is running in the Democratic primary against Michelle Smith. On the Republican side, 10 candidates are seeking the nomination. The last Republican U.S. Senator from Maryland was Charles Mathias, Jr., who served from 1969 to 1987.
Democrats have a 7-1 majority in Maryland’s U.S. House delegation. Sixty-five candidates filed to run for the state’s eight U.S. House districts, including 31 Democrats and 34 Republicans. Rep. Anthony Brown (D) is running for attorney general of Maryland, leaving the 4th District open. Rep. Andrew Harris (R), who represents the 1st District, is the only incumbent without a primary this year.
State
Maryland voters will decide Republican and Democratic primaries for several state executive positions—including governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general—and all state Senate and state House districts. Let’s briefly look at the gubernatorial and state legislative primaries.
Gov. Larry Hogan (R) is term-limited. In recent memory, both Republicans and Democrats have held the governor’s office. Democrat Martin O’Malley was the governor before Hogan from 2007 to 2015. Republican Bob Ehrlich served as governor from 2003 to 2007.
Four candidates are running in the Republican gubernatorial primary. State Rep. Dan Cox and former state secretary of commerce Kelly Schulz have led in endorsements and media attention. Former President Donald Trump (R) has endorsed Cox, while Hogan has endorsed Schulz.
Ten candidates are running in the Democratic primary. Peter Franchot, Wes Moore, and Tom Perez have led in polling, endorsements, and fundraising. Franchot is the state comptroller, Moore was the CEO of the Robinhood Foundation, and Perez chaired Democratic National Committee from 2017 to 2021 and was U.S. Labor Secretary under former President Barack Obama. National officeholders who’ve waded into the primary include U.S. Sen. Edward Markey (D-Mass.), who has endorsed Franchot, U.S. House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who has endorsed Moore, and U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has endorsed Perez.
All 188 state legislative districts across both chambers are up for election this year. Democrats control the state Senate 32-15, and the state House 99-42. Thirty-six percent of the legislative primaries are contested this year (86 primaries out of a possible 236). That is a higher percentage of contested primaries than the national average so far. In states where filing deadlines have passed, 22.6% of state legislative primaries are contested. Maryland’s 86 contested primaries include 51 Democratic primaries and 35 Republican primaries. For Democrats, this is down from 64 in 2018, a 20% decrease. Republican primaries have increased 40%, from 25 in 2018 to 35 in 2022. Thirty-nine districts are open, meaning no incumbents are running. This guarantees that at least 21% of Maryland General Assembly members will be newcomers in 2023. Nationally, in states where the filing deadline has passed, an average of 24% of state legislative districts are open.
In Maryland, the primary candidate with the most votes wins—even if that candidate receives less than 50% of the total vote. Maryland is one of 40 states without primary election runoffs. The state does not cancel uncontested primaries, and write-in candidates are required to file and can only run in general elections.
Click below to learn more about Maryland’s upcoming elections.
Biden White House has 474 employees
Now that we’ve covered Maryland’s upcoming elections, let’s hop over to Washington D.C. and take a look at a new report on White House staffing. On July 1, the White House released its annual report to Congress on personnel.
According to the report, the White House has 474 employees. Sixty-three staff members are detailees— that is, staff temporarily assigned to the White House from another agency or department. The other 411 staff members are employees.
Last year, the Biden Administration reported that it had 560 staff members. Twenty-six staff members were detailees. The other 536 staff members were employees.
The average salary in the Biden White House is $102,095.
The highest-paid staff member according to the 2022 report is Francis Collins, a detailee serving as acting science advisor to the president. Collins’ annual salary was $300,000. Twenty-seven staff members earned $180,000 or more.
Sixteen staff members received no salary. The majority of individuals receiving no salary (nine) were policy advisors.
The largest share of employees (153) received salaries between $60,000 and $89,999, and the second largest (114) received $90,000 and $119,999.
See the chart below for the average salary of paid White House staff members in the Biden, Trump, and Obama administrations between 2013 and 2022. Salaries between 2013 and 2021 were inflation-adjusted to 2022 dollars.
You can learn more about White House staff under the Biden Administration at the link below.
The Democratic candidates who raised the most money for state legislative House races in 10 states
With general elections around the corner, it can be difficult to make sense of all the campaign finance figures that get thrown around in the media. That’s why we’ve partnered with Transparency USA to make money in politics as clear and accessible as possible.
This week, the Democratic candidates who raised the most money for state legislative House races in 10 states.
Two candidates raised more than $1 million: Phil Ting of California ($3.75 million) and Austin Davis of Pennsylvania ($2.70 million). Two candidates raised less than $100,000: Steve Doyle of Wisconsin ($99,607) and Kelly Morrison of Minnesota ($74,968). Collectively, these candidates raised $8.44 million and spent $6.29 million.
Take a deeper dive into these fundraising figures at the links below:
- Reginald Bolding raises more than any other Democratic candidate in the Arizona House
- Phil Ting raises more than any other Democrat in the California State Assembly
- Phil GiaQuinta raised more than any other Democratic House candidate in Indiana
- Donna Lasinski raised more than any other Democratic House candidate in Michigan
- Kelly Morrison raised more than any other Democratic House Rep. in Minnesota
- Rachel Hunt raised more than any other Democratic House Rep. in North Carolina
- David Leland raised more than any other Democratic House Rep. in Ohio
- Austin Davis raised more than any other Democratic House Rep. in Pennsylvania
- Richard Raymond raised more than any other Democratic House Rep. in Texas
- Steve Doyle raised more than any other Democratic House Rep. in Wisconsin
We’ll publish a story about the top Republican state house fundraisers in a future edition, so look forward to that soon.
This year, we plan to publish several hundred articles breaking down campaign finance numbers in the 12 states covered by Transparency USA: Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin. To learn more about our partnership with Transparency USA, click below.
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