October 29, 2026

Montgomery Community Media

by Cristina Caicedo Smit

Montgomery County voters will decide who represents them in the Maryland General Assembly on Nov. 3, when all 47 state Senate seats and all 141 House of Delegates seats are on the ballot statewide.

The county has eight legislative districts, Districts 14 through 20 and 39. Each elects one state senator and three delegates, and voters cast ballots only in the district where they live. Four county precincts also fall in District 9A, which is based in Howard County.

Only one contested Senate race

In District 17, which includes parts of Rockville and Gaithersburg, Democratic Sen. Cheryl Kagan faces Republican Helene Meister. In the county’s other seven districts, a Democrat is the only Senate candidate on the ballot, according to the State Archives’ election listing.

A new senator in District 39

In District 39, which covers Gaithersburg, Germantown, Clarksburg, Montgomery Village and Washington Grove, Democrat Amar Mukunda is the only Senate candidate on the ballot after defeating Senate Majority Leader Nancy King in the June 23 primary. King had served in the General Assembly for more than two decades.

House races

Democrats are the only nominees in most House races. Republican Peter Chan is on the ballot in District 15, and Republican Ann Guthrie Hingston and Bob White, of the Working Class Party, are on the ballot in District 16. Dels. Gabriel Acevero of District 39 and Anne Kaiser of District 14 advanced from the primary.

What the legislature controls

The General Assembly writes the state budget and sets state taxes. In 2025, lawmakers raised income taxes on higher earners, extended the sales tax to certain technology services and added a $5 tire fee, and they trimmed back the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, the state’s 2021 education reform plan.

How to vote

Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3, and polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Early voting ends Thursday, Oct. 29, and voters may cast ballots at any early voting center in the county where they live. The deadline to register online or by mail was Oct. 13, but Maryland allows same-day registration during early voting and on Election Day.

Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 or returned to a drop box or polling place by 8 p.m. that day, and the deadline to request one by mail or fax was Oct. 27.