The 2026 Maryland gubernatorial election will take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the governor of Maryland. The primary elections will take place on June 23, 2026. Incumbent Democratic governor Wes Moore is running for a second term.
At the federal and state level, Maryland is a deeply blue state and one of the most reliably Democratic states in the nation, with Kamala Harris carrying it by 29 points in the 2024 presidential election. Elections in Maryland are dominated by the Baltimore metropolitan area and the D.C. suburbs. Going into this election, Democrats occupy all statewide offices and hold supermajorities in both houses of the state legislature, as well as all but one seat in the state's congressional delegation.
Much of the speculation as to which Republicans may challenge Moore in the 2026 election revolved around former governor Larry Hogan. Hogan's entry would have given Republicans a high-profile candidate, potentially making the race more competitive. However, he announced in an op-ed to The Baltimore Sun in January 2026 that he would not run for a third term as governor in 2026, after which speculation turned to Steve Hershey, the minority leader of the Maryland Senate who had formed an exploratory committee into a potential gubernatorial campaign. Hershey filed to run for re-election in February 2026, leaving the Republican Party without a formidable opponent against Moore.
Republican challengers to Moore face an uphill battle against him, especially as public frustration with President Donald Trump continues to boost Democratic officeholders in deep blue states. As of April 2026, Republican candidates in the race have struggled to raise funds for their campaigns, lack experience in running a statewide campaign, and hold positions in line with Trump, while Moore's campaign remains well funded and faces token opposition in the Democratic primary.
Moore has maintained positive approval ratings throughout his first term, though his numbers have slowly declined throughout his first term and especially since the 2025 legislative session, during which Moore and the Maryland General Assembly closed a $3.3 billion budget deficit through a combination of budget cuts and tax increases. Mileah Kromer, the director of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County's Institute of Politics, has associated the downward trend in Moore's approval rating with voter frustration over affordability issues and a distrust of local, state, and federal government. An incumbent Democratic governor has not lost re-election in Maryland since 1950, when William Preston Lane Jr. failed to win a second term.
Wes Moore vs. Larry Hogan<br />