CHESTERTOWN — Democrat Sam Shoge and Republican incumbent Ron Fithian continue as their respective party’s front-runner for Kent County Commissioner after the first post-primary canvass of mail-in ballots.
Also, Nivek Johnson appears to have solidified his victory over fellow Chestertown resident John Queen in the Democratic race for District 36 state senator.
District 36 includes all of Kent and Queen Anne’s counties and parts of Cecil and Caroline counties.
According to Kent County Board of Elections officials, 575 of the roughly 1,830 mail-in ballots were counted Thursday, June 25.
After tabulating early voting [June 11-18], Election Day [June 23] and the first mail-in canvass, Shoge has increased his lead slightly from 31.2% to 31.4% with 1,311 votes.
John Carroll is second with 1,122 votes, or 26.9%, followed by Thad Bench [1,020, 24.4%] and David Foster [717, 17.1%].
Shoge is a former Chestertown councilman.
Carroll is a former Galena mayor, and currently serves on the town council.
Foster is a former Chestertown mayor.
Bench is a first-time candidate.
Shoge, Carroll and Bench move on to the General Election in November and will face the Republican slate of incumbents Fithian, Albert Nickerson and John Price.
The first mail-in canvass favored Nickerson and Price, but only minimally, in the closely contested race between three candidates.
Fithian [990, 34.1%], who has served for seven terms, holds a narrow lead over first-term incumbents Nickerson [969, 33.4%] and Price [941, 32.4%].
Before being elected county commissioner in 2022, Price served seven terms as county sheriff.
Kent County voters also had a say in the Democratic primary for District 36 state senator where Johnson tightened his grip on victory with 1,040 mail-in votes to extend his lead to 3,418-2,579.
Johnson has 57% of the vote to Queen’s 43%.
In Kent, voters chose Johnson over Queen, 1,021-640.
Republican incumbent Steve Hershey was unopposed in the primary.
Also, Republican Jay Jacobs of Rock Hall was unopposed in the primary in his bid to return as the District 36 delegate representing Kent County.
Provisional ballots will be counted on Wednesday, July 1.
The second and final mail-in canvass is July 6.
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Two-term Democratic incumbent Bryan DiGregory and Republican challenger Matt Crouch were unopposed in their respective primary for state’s attorney and will face off in the General Election.
Sheriff Dennis Hickman, Clerk of the Circuit Court Sherise Kennard and Register of Wills Kristi Osborn face no opposition in the General Election.
