The 2018 Maryland gubernatorial election was held on November 6, 2018. The date included the election of the governor, lieutenant governor, and all members of the Maryland General Assembly. Popular incumbent governor Larry Hogan and Lieutenant Governor Boyd Rutherford, both Republicans, were elected to a second term in a landslide against Democrat Ben Jealous, the former NAACP CEO, and his running mate Susan Turnbull. This was one of eight Republican-held governorships up for election in a state carried by Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
Hogan became the second Republican governor of Maryland to win re-election, and the first since Theodore McKeldin in 1954. He also became the first Republican to win over 55% of the vote in a statewide election in Maryland since U.S. Senator Charles Mathias in 1980. This was the first election since 1974 in which Maryland simultaneously elected a gubernatorial nominee and a U.S. Senate nominee of opposite parties. This was the first and only Maryland gubernatorial election in which both major party candidates received over one million votes. As of 2025, this is the last time that a Republican won a statewide election in Maryland.
At the presidential level, Maryland is a staunchly Democratic state due to the large number of Democratic voters in the Washington metropolitan area and Baltimore City. Maryland had not seen a Republican presidential candidate win its votes since 1988, and the state had not been within 15% since 2004; Hillary Clinton won the state by 26 points over Donald Trump (60% to 34%) in 2016, Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney by 26 points in 2012 (62% to 36%), and Obama defeated John McCain by 25 points in 2008 (62% to 37%).
Hogan was elected governor in 2014, defeating then-lieutenant governor Anthony Brown by a margin of 51% to 47%; the result was considered one of the biggest election upsets that year. Prior to Hogan's victory, Bob Ehrlich, elected in 2002, had been the only Republican elected as Governor of Maryland since Spiro Agnew. However, Ehrlich was defeated for reelection in 2006 by Martin O'Malley and defeated again in 2010, when he faced O'Malley in a rematch.
In April 2018, Hogan had a 68% approval rating, the second-highest approval of any governor in the country, only behind Governor Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, who had a 71% approval rating. Despite the state's Democratic leaning, Hogan had a high approval rating among all partisan groups (65% approval from Democrats, 64% of Independents, and 81% of Republicans).
Following the Maryland Green Party's nominating procedure, the delegates of the Coordinating Council, which is the party's State Central Committee, made the decision to nominate the gubernatorial ticket as no other candidate had filed by the party's March 30, 2018, deadline. More than one ticket seeking the nomination would have required the party to conduct a primary, an obligation not mandated by the State Board of Elections for non-principal parties.
Larry Hogan and Ben Jealous met for their one and only scheduled debate on September 24. The debate was livestreamed in the evening by the Maryland Public Television.
with Rushern Baker<br />
with Richard Madaleno<br />
with Alec Ross<br />
with Jim Shea<br />
with Krish Vignarajah<br />
with Valerie Ervin<br />
with Kevin Kamenetz<br />
with John Delaney<br />
with Tom Perez<br />
Hogan carried six of eight congressional districts, including five held by Democrats. This included the district of then-House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, whom Hogan was defeated by in 1992.
Official campaign websites