Live updates: Holsinger overtakes Albert for sheriff

Editor's note: This story was updated at 3 p.m. July 20, 2022, to correct the results of the Washington County Circuit Court judge's race. The Herald-Mail apologizes for the error.

Unofficial results with all Primary Election Day precincts reporting

Lt. Jim Holsinger overtook Brian Albert in the Republican primary for Washington County sheriff with all 55 precincts and early voting reporting. With 4,162 votes, Holsinger had a 135-vote lead over Albert's 4,027 votes. Greg Alton had 2,896 votes.

However, countywide, 3,019 Republican mail-in ballots were issued, according to a county ballot report.

Mail-in ballots won't start being counted until Thursday. Mail-in and absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by 10 a.m. July 29, Deputy Election Director Barry Jackson said.

If Holsinger keeps the Republican lead, he'll face Democratic challenger Junior McLeod and unaffiliated challenger Bill Williams in the Nov. 8 general election.

In the closest race, recently appointed Washington County Circuit Court Judge Joe Michael was leading on the Democratic ballot but challenger Adam Daniel Greivell was leading on the Republican ballot.

Because the judge race is nonpartisan, their names appeared on both Republican and Democratic ballots.

Michael had 1,908 votes on the Democratic ballot and Greivell had 1,753. But on the Republican ballot, Greivell led with 5,261 to Michael's 5,112.

There were 7,972 mail-in ballots requested from the Washington County Board of Elections, and 5,406 had been returned as of Tuesday.

Other unofficial results with early voting and all precincts reporting include:

• The top five Republican vote-getters for the Washington County Board of Commissioners are incumbents Jeff Cline (5,821 votes), Randy Wagner (5,540), and Wayne Keefer (5,407), followed by former commissioner John Barr (5,316 votes) and newcomer Derek Harvey (5,083 votes). That could leave incumbent Charles Burkett, with 4,159 votes, on the outside. Incumbent Terry Baker ran unopposed in the Republican primary for House of Delegates District 1C.

• In the race for Maryland House of Delegates Seat 2B, incumbent Del. Brenda Thiam had 54.37% of the Republican votes with all 15 precincts plus early voting reporting, while challenger Thomas Stolz had 45.63%. That's a 121-vote lead. In the Democratic primary, Brooke Grossman is leading Ladetra Robinson with 59.42% of the votes or 195 votes.

• Del. Mike McKay had a 1,637-vote lead in the Republican primary for State Senate District 1 over Allegany County Commissioners President Jake Shade. McKay could face Democrat Michael Dreisbach in November. Incumbent George Edwards didn't run for re-election. The district includes all of Garrett and Allegany counties and part of Washington County.

• Del. William Wivell had the lead in the Republican primary for Maryland's two District 2A seats with 42% of the vote and a 2,152-vote lead over William Valentine of Emmitsburg, Md. Valentine had 2,625 votes compared to Seth Edward Wilson with 1,962 votes and Bradley Belmont with 1,934. The district includes parts of Washington and Frederick counties after it was redrawn as part of the state's redistricting.

• Robert M. Breeding won the Republican primary race for Washington County treasurer with 76.97% of votes so far and a 5,023-vote lead over Mam Malick Thiam. There is no Democratic candidate for treasurer.

AP calls Congressional 6th District Republican race for Parrott; Democratic race for Trone

Looks like another showdown between familiar Republican and Democratic candidates for the 6th Congressional District.

The Associated Press is calling Neil Parrott the winner of the Republican primary and incumbent David J. Trone the winner in the Democratic primary.

Both men faced off in 2020 for the spot. Trone beat Parrott, who is a delegate representing a large part of eastern Washington County.

With 90 of 247 precincts reporting, plus early voting, Parrott was leading with 66.02% of the Republican vote. Trone was leading the Democratic race with 79.8% of votes, according to the State Election Board's website.

Holsinger gaining in sheriff's race while Election Day votes still being counted

Lt. Jim Holsinger is closing the gap in the Republican primary for Washington County sheriff with 16 of 55 precincts reporting around 10 p.m., plus early voting results. Brian Albert still leads the sheriff's race in that primary with 36.92% of votes so far, while Holsinger was at 34.26%. Greg Alton had 28.82% of the vote.

Other unofficial results with early voting and 16 of 55 precincts include:

• The top five Republican vote-getters for the Washington County Board of Commissioners remained the same with incumbent Jeff Cline taking over the lead from incumbent Randy Wagner. The other top three so far are former commissioner John Barr, newcomer Derek Harvey and incumbent Wayne Keefer.

• In the race for Maryland House of Delegates Seat 2B, incumbent Del. Brenda Thiam had 57.55% of the Republican votes with six of 15 precincts plus early voting reporting, while challenger Thomas Stolz had 42.45%. In the Democratic primary, Brooke Grossman is leading Ladetra Robinson with 57.24% of the votes so far.

• Del. Mike McKay continues to lead the Republican primary for State Senate District 1 with 54.15% of the vote compared with Allegany County Commissioners President Jake Shade's 45.85%. That's with 37 of 70 precincts reporting plus early voting.

• Del. William Wivell is leading early voting for Maryland's District 2A seat in the Republican primary with 45.36% early voting and six of 26 precincts reporting. The closest behind him in the Republican primary is Seth Edward Wilson with 19.21% of early votes.

• The race for a Washington County Circuit Court judge race narrowed a bit with recently appointed Judge Joe Michael leading with 51.24%, while challenger Adam Daniel Greivell had 48.76% of votes in both parties so far.

• Robert M. Breeding is leading the Republican primary race for Washington County treasurer with 74.61% of early votes, while Mam Malick Thiam had 25.39%. There is no Democratic candidate for treasurer.

Unofficial early voting results in for Washington County

Unofficial early voting results are in for Washington County's political races — at the State Board of Elections website.

With early voting alone:

• The top-five Republican vote-getters in the race for the five Washington County Board of Commissioners seats are: incumbent Randy Wagner (12.74% of votes or 1,102 votes); incumbent Jeff Cline (12.35%); newcomer Derek Harvey (11.43%), former Commissioner John Barr (11.11%), and incumbent Wayne Keefer (10.92%).

• Del. Mike McKay is leading the Republican primary race for State Senate District 1 with 52.89% of early voting compared with Allegany County Commissioners President Jake Shade's 47.11%.

• Del. William Wivell is leading early voting for Maryland's District 2A seat in the Republican primary with 46.14% of early voting or 712 votes. The closest behind him in the Republican primary is Seth Edward Wilson with 18.54% of early votes.

• The Republican and Democratic primary races for Maryland District 2B are close just with early voting. Incumbent Republican Del. Brenda Thiam has 57.14% of early voting over Republican challenger Thomas Stolz. Brooke Grossman is leading the two Democratic challengers with 55.76% of early voting, while Ladetra Robinson has 44.24%.

• Recently appointed Washington County Circuit Court Judge Joe Michael has 55% of early voting, while challenger Adam Daniel Greivell has 45%. That includes Republican and Democratic votes.

• Brian Albert had a small edge in the Republican primary race for Washington County sheriff with 39.95% of early voting. Jim Holsinger had 31.56% of early voting, while Greg Alton had 28.49%.

• Robert M. Breeding is leading the Republican primary race for Washington County treasurer with 73.23% of early votes, while Mam Malick Thiam had 26.77%. There is no Democratic candidate for treasurer.

• In Washington County alone, Dan Cox was leading Republican candidates for governor with 53.93% of early voting. In the Democratic primary, Peter Franchot was leading in Washington County with 30.49% of early voting.

To see statewide results, check out the results here. And keep up to date with our live blog on state and federal races.

Polls closed in Maryland's 2022 primary

Polls have closed in Washington County for the 2022 Maryland primary.

Deputy Election Director Barry Jackson, speaking about 15 minutes before they closed, said there hadn't been any further issues. Earlier in the day there was a lack of water at a Downsville polling place and a brief air conditioning problem at a polling place on Hagerstown Community College's campus.

Jackson said that by 4 p.m. Tuesday over 8,000 voters had cast ballots today. He estimated that's about 10% of the registered voters in the county.

Jackson said he's hopeful that once combined with mail-in ballots and early voting, turnout will be up to 20%.

Final results won't be available this evening because of the need to count those mail-in ballots, as well as provisional and absentee ballots. That count won't start until Thursday, election officials have said.

Check out The Herald-Mail's results pages for Washington County and state and federal races. And check back here for updates throughout the evening.

Downsville polling place temporarily without water

With a few hours to go on Primary Election Day in Washington County, Deputy Election Director Barry Jackson reported things going pretty smoothly except for a temporary water issue at the Downsville Ruritan Club polling place on Tuesday morning.

There was no water this morning, Jackson said. A water delivery was due for the cistern and the issue was resolved within a couple hours, he said.

When election officials learned of the problem Tuesday morning, they ordered a portable toilet and a case of bottled water, Jackson said.

The restrooms are mostly used by election officials, but also are available for voters, he said.

Turnout 'right on par' at midday

Other than a temporary air conditioning problem, Primary Election Day voting is proceeding routinely Tuesday morning in the poll at the Athletic, Recreation and Community Center at Hagerstown Community College.

"It was warm," said Mark Evans, one of the chief judges at the polling place. Walter Kerr is the other chief judge.

But the air conditioning was fixed, he said, and about 100 people had voted by about 11 a.m.

"For a primary, it's about right," Evans said of the number.

A "slow but steady" turnout seemed to be the norm throughout the county, said Barry Jackson, deputy election director at the Washington County Board of Elections.

"The turnout numbers so far actually seem to be right on par with 2018 (the last gubernatorial primary)," he said.

As of 11 a.m., about 3,660 people had voted. About 74,000 are eligible to vote in the primary, he said.

Click here for returns:Washington County primary election results

In addition to the ballots cast today, Jackson said the county has received at least 5,000 of the 8,000 mail-in ballots that had been sent to people who requested them.

Under Maryland law, those 5,000 ballots cannot be counted until after the polls close.

"That's not an insignificant number," Jackson said. "We're asking people to be patient."

Some people who requested mail-in ballots decided to vote in person, either during early voting times or Tuesday, he said.

As for the rest of those mail-in ballots, Jackson said they can still be counted as long as they are postmarked by Tuesday and received by 10 a.m. July 29.

Two teens among those working at voting center

Josiah Pryor and Brenna Fitzgerald, both 18, were among those staffing the poll at the Washington County Board of Elections headquarters on Virginia Avenue at 8 a.m. Tuesday.

Fitzgerald, of Rohrersville, said she followed her father into the role of a poll worker.

"My dad is actually a chief judge in (the polling place at) Pleasant Valley (Elementary School)," she said.

As for Pryor?

"I'm dating this girl," the Hagerstown resident said with a smile, motioning to Fitzgerald with his thumb.

"It's just a good way to help out. It's a long day, though," he said.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

More:Scenes from Maryland's 2022 primary election

Fitzgerald stressed the importance of participating in elections, saying that "every vote counts."

"It's good to have people of all ages (working the polls)," she said.

The two teens were checking in voters under the guidance of chief judges Richard Ebersole and Kevin Newhouse.

"Dick and I have been working together for 20 years," Newhouse said.

"Close to it, yeah," Ebersole replied.

They said the morning was following the usual routine for a primary election when the office of president is not on the ballot.

"It's too early for us to know what the turnout is going to be," Newhouse said.

Voting begins

Washington County will choose local, state and federal nominees in Maryland's primary election on Tuesday, July 19.

We're tracking all the elections, and you will be able to find results for races specific to Washington County here. You will be able to find results for Maryland statewide races here.

There are a number of important state and local midterm races this year, with the governor's seat up for grabs, and Democratic U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen up for reelection and facing a primary challenge.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Washington County primary election 2022 live results