Boafo and Chaffee advance from crowded primaries; a certified write-in is the only other name active for the general election
By MDBayNews Staff
Maryland’s 5th Congressional District spent the first half of 2026 as the state’s most crowded primary battleground, with nearly 30 candidates entering the race to succeed retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer, who has held the seat since 1981. Voters cut that field down on June 23. Heading into the Nov. 3 general election, the district covering Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties and parts of Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties comes down to two major-party nominees and one certified write-in candidate, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections’ general candidate list, updated Sept. 11.
“Voters cut a field of nearly 30 candidates down to two major-party nominees and one certified write-in.”
Who’s on the ballot
Adrian Boafo, Democratic nominee. Boafo, 32, is a Prince George’s County state delegate who won the Democratic primary with 32% of the vote in a 24-candidate field, finishing well ahead of businesswoman Quincy Bareebe. He previously worked as a field director and campaign manager for Hoyer before becoming a lobbyist and, in 2023, a state delegate; he served as assistant majority leader in the House of Delegates from 2024 to 2025. Hoyer endorsed him, as did Gov. Wes Moore and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks. On primary night, Boafo told supporters it was “time to pass the torch to a new generation.” MDBayNews has separately reported that Boafo, while serving as a delegate, worked as a registered lobbyist for Oracle and drew roughly $4.5 million in outside spending tied to industries affected by his legislative work, an arrangement that raised questions about disclosure and potential conflicts of interest.
“Boafo won the Democratic primary with 32.74% of the vote in a 24-candidate field.”
Chris Chaffee, Republican nominee. Chaffee, a general contractor and farmer from Barstow in Calvert County, won a smaller Republican primary field. This is not his first bid for federal office: he ran unsuccessfully for this same House seat in 2014, losing to Hoyer, and has twice sought the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, in 2016 and 2024.
Mildred Marie Hall, write-in. Hall filed as a certified write-in candidate under Maryland’s “Other Candidates” ballot category and remains listed as active heading into November. Her filing lists a Prince George’s County jurisdiction and a Washington, D.C., mailing address. State campaign finance records show no committee financial activity reported for her candidacy, and MDBayNews was unable to independently verify additional biographical details in time for this preview.
Two names that won’t appear. Independents Jonathan Burruss and Brian S. Jordan both attempted to petition their way onto the general-election ballot. State election officials list both as having failed to submit the required number of signatures, a determination recorded Aug. 11. Neither will appear on the November ballot, a status not yet reflected on MDBayNews’ own MD-5 candidate page, which is being corrected separately.
The rest of the spring’s sprawling Democratic field, including former U.S. Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, former Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, Wala Blegay, Nicole A. Williams and more than a dozen others, was eliminated in the June 23 primary. Republicans Bryan DuVal and Michelle Talkington also lost to Chaffee.
The money
Boafo’s campaign committee, Adrian Boafo For Congress, reported $1,676,916.13 in total receipts and $1,585,049.16 in disbursements through June 30, the most recent period covered in his federal filings, leaving about $91,867 cash on hand heading out of the primary. That put him well ahead of the rest of the Democratic field on raw fundraising, though not on outside help: Bareebe, his closest fundraising rival, raised nearly $6.8 million but had spent almost all of it, ending the period with about $11,200 on hand.
Boafo’s own fundraising was dwarfed by outside spending on his behalf. Independent-expenditure filings covering the same window show more than $12.1 million in combined spending supporting his candidacy from six outside groups, led by AIPAC’s super PAC, United Democracy Project (more than $5.7 million), and the crypto industry-aligned Protect Progress ($5.26 million), with smaller sums from AmeriPAC, Project 218, the Rolling Sea Action Fund and DMFI PAC.
Chaffee has no financial records on file with the FEC for the 2026 cycle as of publication, meaning either his committee has not filed a report or has not raised enough to trigger one. Boafo’s committee has not yet filed a report covering the period since the primary; the next FEC quarterly deadline falls in mid-October, ahead of the general election.
“Boafo’s own fundraising was dwarfed by outside spending on his behalf.”
The redistricting backdrop
MD-5 is not itself the target of Maryland’s ongoing redistricting fight, but the district sits inside a larger, unresolved debate. After an earlier 2026 push to redraw the state’s congressional maps to target Rep. Andy Harris, R-1st, the state’s only Republican House member, stalled, Democratic legislative leaders called a special session in August to advance a constitutional amendment intended to clear a path for a future map. That amendment will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot alongside the MD-5 race; if approved by voters, it would let lawmakers revisit congressional district lines in a future cycle, not this one. Any new map built around reconfiguring Harris’ Eastern Shore-based district would likely require adjusting population in several neighboring districts, but no such map exists yet, and none applies to this year’s contests.
“The race being decided in November could be fought on different district lines in a future cycle.”
What to Watch
- Chris Chaffee’s third-quarter FEC filing, due in mid-October, which should show whether his campaign built any general-election fundraising operation.
- Whether Mildred Marie Hall’s write-in campaign draws organized support beyond her ballot filing.
- Whether the Oracle lobbying story or other scrutiny of Boafo’s legislative work becomes a general-election issue.
- Whether the state’s redistricting constitutional amendment passes Nov. 3, and what that could mean for MD-5’s boundaries in a future cycle.
Sourcing: Maryland State Board of Elections 2026 general election candidate list, updated Sept. 11, 2026; Federal Election Commission committee and independent-expenditure filings for Adrian Boafo For Congress, covering the period through June 30, 2026; prior MDBayNews reporting on the MD-5 primary and Adrian Boafo’s Oracle lobbying work, published May and June 2026; Courthouse News, Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Black Catholic Messenger reporting on the June 23, 2026 primary results; Associated Press and Washington Times wire reporting on Maryland’s 2026 congressional redistricting special session.
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