Maryland’s Democratic Presidential Primary Record

From Marc Korman.

Previously, we examined Maryland’s track record in presidential elections. Today, we take a look at Maryland’s Democratic presidential primary record since World War II.

According to the Maryland Secretary of State, Maryland’s first partisan presidential primary was in 1912. The practice did not become a regular quadrennial occurrence until 1952, with the exception of 1968 when the state did not hold a primary because of an overlapping state constitutional convention. From 1912 until 1984 Maryland held its primary in May. From 1988 until 2004 the primary was held in March.

A total of thirteen presidential primaries have been held in Maryland since World War II. In seven of those primaries, Maryland voted for the eventual Democratic nominee. That number climbs to eight if you count 1964, when home state Senator Daniel Brewster was standing in for incumbent President Lyndon Johnson.

Of the seven races where Maryland voted for the eventual Democratic nominee, only two went on to win the fall election. They were Kennedy and Clinton. If you count Brewster in 1964, three went on to win the general election. Two of the three were incumbent presidents, Clinton in ’96 and Johnson in ’64.

Of the eight races Maryland Democrats voted for the eventual Democratic nominee, six have come since 1980 beginning with the vote for Jimmy Carter over Ted Kennedy and continuing until 2004 with the exception of Tsongas’ victory over Clinton in 1992. Maryland Democrats’ new found ability to pick the eventual nominee probably reflects the trend, until 2008, of party nominees being picked earlier and earlier in the cycle.