AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Maryland’s presidential and state primaries

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump look to add to their string of victories and pad their delegate totals in Maryland on Tuesday as the presidential primary campaign enters its final weeks. Voters will also decide contested primaries in a U.S. Senate race that has further complicated Democratic efforts to keep control of the narrowly divided chamber this fall.

Maryland’s presidential primaries won’t have much of an impact on the races for the Democratic and Republican nominations, as both Biden and Trump have already been crowned as their parties’ presumptive nominees. But the Maryland ballots feature options that have proved to be stubborn irritations to both campaigns in recent contests – for Biden, it’s “ uncommitted ” and for Trump, it’s former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

In the Pennsylvania primary in April, for instance, the Democratic primary saw a surge in write-in votes after activists urged voters to write “uncommitted” on the ballot in lieu of voting for Biden. In the Republican contest, Haley received about 17% of the vote, despite having dropped out of the race in early March. Haley got almost 22% of the vote in Indiana’s presidential primary on May 7.

In the U.S. Senate primaries to replace retiring Democratic incumbent Ben Cardin, former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan’s late entry into the race has given Republicans hope of a possible pick-up in a state that hasn’t elected a Republican U.S. Senator since 1980. As a two-term governor, Hogan is the best-known and most formidable of the seven candidates vying for the GOP nomination.

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