Johnny Olszewski Jr. defends his Baltimore-area seat against Dave Wallace, who beat a better-funded primary rival to earn the rematch.
By MDBayNews Staff
Maryland’s 2nd Congressional District doesn’t carry the national attention MD-1 does, but the ballot line is set for November: Democratic incumbent Johnny Olszewski Jr. against Republican nominee Dave Wallace. It’s Wallace’s third run at the seat in as many cycles, and this time he’s the one carrying the party banner into a district that leans firmly blue. Here’s what voters in Baltimore County, Carroll County, and the sliver of Baltimore City that make up MD-2 need to know.
The District, Briefly
MD-2 covers most of Baltimore County, a large share of Carroll County, and a small piece of Baltimore City. It’s suburban and densely populated for a Maryland district, and it leans Democratic: the Cook Political Report rates it D+10 heading into 2026, meaning its recent presidential results ran ten points more Democratic than the national average. Olszewski won the open seat in 2024 with 58.3% of the vote to Republican Kim Klacik’s 39.6%, a margin of nearly 19 points, after Democrat Dutch Ruppersberger retired following more than two decades representing the district.
Unlike MD-1, this seat has not been part of the redistricting fight playing out in Annapolis this year. Democrats already hold it comfortably, so the debate over redrawing Maryland’s congressional map has centered entirely on the state’s lone Republican-held district. MD-2 voters will still see the statewide constitutional amendment on redistricting on their November ballot, but it has no direct bearing on this race.
The bigger obstacle for Republicans isn’t the candidate matchup. It’s the district itself: MD-2 enters November with a D+10 partisan lean.
Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D) — The Incumbent
Olszewski, of Sparrows Point, is finishing his first term in Congress after two terms as Baltimore County Executive. He was elected to the House in 2024 to succeed the retiring Ruppersberger, and before that spent two terms in the Maryland House of Delegates representing the county’s 6th district. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Goucher College, a master’s from George Washington University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
MDBayNews has previously reported on the tension between Olszewski’s donor base and his political messaging, and on what critics characterized as a shift in his public position on ICE enforcement. Those pieces remain part of the record heading into this race; readers can find them in our MD-2 archive.
Olszewski enters the general election with the advantages of incumbency, a Democratic-leaning district and a substantial financial head start.
Olszewski enters the general with a substantial financial edge: roughly $1.04 million raised this cycle against about $614,000 in cash on hand as of the June 30 reporting deadline, according to FEC data.
Dave Wallace (R) — The Challenger
Wallace, a Carroll County business owner who runs Chesapeake Kitchen Wholesalers, is making his third consecutive bid for the seat. He finished second in the 2022 Republican primary and again in 2024, when national radio host Kim Klacik won the nomination with 63.3% of the primary vote to Wallace’s 23.4%. This year the two faced off again, along with perennial candidate Nnabu Eze, and Wallace won the nomination, a notable turnaround against a candidate who had national name recognition and a history of significant national fundraising in her own past campaigns.
Wallace is a graduate of Salisbury University with a background in biology and immunological cancer research before he went into business. His campaign has centered on energy policy, support for law enforcement, and reindustrialization and manufacturing jobs, according to his campaign materials.
Wallace won the nomination after losing Republican primaries in both 2022 and 2024 — turning his third campaign into his first general-election appearance.
Wallace’s fundraising is modest by comparison: about $20,200 raised this cycle, with roughly $3,000 in cash on hand as of June 30.
What to Watch
The bigger question for MD-2 may not be who wins in November, but by how much.
The district’s D+10 lean and Olszewski’s financial advantage make him the clear favorite. But Wallace’s win over a better-funded, higher-profile primary opponent is worth noting on its own terms, even if it doesn’t change the fundamentals of a Democratic-leaning district in a midterm cycle. The bigger question for MD-2 may not be who wins in November, but by how much — and whether Republican turnout elsewhere in Maryland’s redistricting fight has any spillover effect here.
Sources: Candidate filings and status (active, withdrawn) are drawn from the Maryland State Board of Elections 2026 general election candidate list. Campaign finance figures are drawn from FEC filings covering the period through June 30, 2026. District partisan lean (Cook PVI D+10) and district demographics are from Ballotpedia and Wikipedia’s entry for Maryland’s 2nd congressional district. The 2024 general election result (Olszewski 58.3%, Klacik 39.6%, Wunder 2.1%) and the 2024 Republican primary result (Klacik 63.3%, Wallace 23.4%, Thormann 13.3%) are from NBC News election results. Wallace’s win over Klacik and Eze in the 2026 Republican primary is confirmed via Associated Press wire reporting. Background on Wallace’s professional history is drawn from Ballotpedia. MDBayNews has previously reported on Rep. Olszewski’s donor network and his public position on ICE enforcement.
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