Who is running to replace Steny Hoyer?

WASHINGTON — Rep. Steny Hoyer’s announcement that he will retire after 45 years in Congress has launched an election campaign frenzy inside Maryland’s 5th Congressional District. The district encompasses parts of Prince George’s and Anne Arundel counties, as well as all of Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties in Southern Maryland. 

Considered a solidly Democratic district, the last time a Republican won the 5th District was former Gov. Larry Hogan’s father, Lawrence Hogan, in 1972. 

The deadline to register to run for Hoyer’s seat expired on Tuesday night. Here is a list of candidates who registered with the Maryland Board of Elections. In total, there are 30 candidates running for the seat. 

Primary elections for Maryland’s Fifth District will be held on June 23 for both Democrats and Republicans. Early voting in those primaries will be held from June 11 to 18. 

The 2026 midterm elections will be held on Nov. 3. 

Having previously run against Hoyer as a Republican, Arness appeared on the Maryland Board of Elections page as a registered Democratic candidate this time around. 

In 2016, Arness lost to Hoyer in the general election. He garnered less than 30% of the overall vote in the Fifth District, compared to Hoyer’s 67.5%. 

Baker was Prince George’s County Executive from 2010 to 2018. Since leaving office, Baker suffered a string of Democratic primary election losses. 

He staged two unsuccessful runs for governor, losing the Democratic nomination to former NAACP CEO Ben Jealous in 2018 and future Gov. Wes Moore in 2022. Baker also unsuccessfully ran for his old seat as Prince George’s County Executive in 2025, losing to Aisha Braveboy. 

Baker told WUSA9 he’s hoping his time in state and local elected office will set him apart from the dozens looking to represent Maryland’s Fifth District. 

“Bringing those years of experience to the challenges we face today is the reason I decided to run for this position,” Baker told WUSA9’s Alexis Wainwright. “So I think that’s what it is, it’s about immediately having an impact on people’s lives.” 

Blegay was unanimously selected to serve as an at-large councilmember in December, replacing Calvin Hawkins and elevating her from her previous post representing District 6 in Bowie. She has served as a councilmember since 2022.  

A Prince George’s County resident of more than 20 years, Blegay is an adjunct professor at the American University Washington College of Law and a former staff attorney for the DC Nurses Association.

A son of immigrant parents from Ghana, Boafo began his career in politics working as a campaign manager for Hoyer. At 25, he won a seat on the Bowie City Council and later served as vice mayor of Bowie.

He was elected to the Maryland House of Delegates. While representing Prince George’s County, he has championed the Maryland Phone Free School Act to keep students safe and focused in school. He also introduced the ICE Breaker Act, which would ban ICE agents who joined under the Trump administration from ever serving in the state police force. 

Hoyer has endorsed Boafo to take over his seat. 

Collins has served in Charles County politics for decades. He is currently the president of the Board of County Commissioners for the county, a position he has served in since 2018. Before that, he was the board’s vice president and a member, representing District 3 since 2006. 

In early February, Collins appeared at a Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Board of Directors meeting to address Maryland, as well as D.C. and Virginia’s responses to the winter storm in January. 

A former police officer who defended the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Dunn announced he was running to replace Hoyer in early February. He announced his run in an Instagram video where he compares the President Donald Trump administration officials and their immigration policies to the mentality and disposition of Jan. 6 rioters. 

Even though Dunn retired from the U.S. Capitol Police force in 2023, the former law enforcement officer has remained a fixture on The Hill, attending political rallies and sitting in on congressional hearings related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks.

Dunn called Trump a “wannabe dictator” while on a Zoom call with WUSA9’s Alexis Wainwright. 

“All roads lead back to Donald Trump and Congress’ failure to hold him accountable — whether it be tariffs or healthcare,” Dunn said. 

This election cycle would be Dunn’s second try at a run for Congress. He ran in a 2024 Democratic primary for the nearby third congressional district. Dunn lost that race to Sarah Elfreth, who now serves that seat in the U.S. House.  

Although Dunn was born and grew up inside the fifth district, the Democratic candidate currently lives outside its boundaries, in Montgomery County. However, Dunn argued that the distinction doesn’t make much of a difference, especially within the context of a mid-decade proposal to redraw Maryland’s congressional map. 

“These lines that are being drawn do not protect people from Donald Trump,” Dunn said on Wednesday. Dunn added that he would move to the fifth district if elected. He made a similar pledge in 2024. 

The only state senator who has declared a run for Hoyer’s seat, Ellis has represented Maryland’s 28th district since 2019. His district comprises parts of Carroll County. 

Ellis is a military veteran, having served in the United States Air Force during the 1980s and in the Air Force reserves for another decade afterward. 

An advocate for Gov. Wes Moore’s push for redistricting in Maryland, Ellis walked off the Maryland Senate floor to protest the efforts to stall a vote on the bill. Moore commended Ellis’ move. 

Williams has represented Maryland’s 22nd legislative district in the House of Delegates since 2019, where she serves alongside two other Democratic delegates. Her district includes parts of Prince George’s County.

On her campaign website, Williams criticized the efforts by the Trump administration to keep the FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., saying that the president “doesn’t care about following the rule of law.” She said that as a representative, she would fight to move the bureau to Greenbelt.   

• Quincy Bareebe from Anne Arundel County  
• Ellis Colvin, a U.S. Army veteran and PhD from Prince George’s County, who serves as faculty at Capitol Technology University in Laurel. 
• Elldwnia English from St. Mary’s County
• Terry Jackson, a U.S. Navy veteran from Prince George’s County
• Harry Jarin, a volunteer firefighter from Anne Arundel County
• Walter Kirkland from Anne Arundel County
• Jerry Lightfoot from Prince George’s County
• Heather Luper from Prince George’s County 
• James Anderson Makle from Carroll County 
• Leigha Messick from Charles County
• Kenneth Simons from Prince George’s County
• Alexis Solis from Prince George’s County 
• Tracy Starr from Anne Arundel County
• Dave Sundberg from Anne Arundel County 
• Harold Tolbert from Charles County

Three Republican candidates have registered to run for the 2026 primary for the Fifth District. 

Among the GOP group is Michelle Talkington, who ran against Hoyer in the 2024 general election. Talkington lost to Hoyer, garnering 32% of the vote to Hoyer’s nearly 68%. 

Chris Chaffee, who lost the Republican primary against former Gov. Larry Hogan in his unsuccessful bid for a U.S. Senate seat, will be running against Talkington in the primary for the Fifth District. Bryan DuVal, who staged unsuccessful attempts to win the GOP nominations in the Fifth District in 2022 and 2020, is also running as a Republican this year. 

Jonathan Burruss of Charles County and Mildred Hall of Prince George’s County have registered to run outside of the political party primaries and will appear on the general election ballot in November.