Republican incumbent concedes Maryland House of Delegates seat after more ballots counted

Maryland Del. Brenda Thiam has conceded her election bid to Maryland House of Delegates District 2B after more mail-in ballots were counted Thursday.

Democratic challenger Brooke Grossman's lead, which was 34 votes at the end of Election Day, grew to 589 votes after 1,325 District 2B ballots were canvassed Thursday by the Washington County Board of Elections.

The results are still incomplete and unofficial, but Thiam would have had a hard time catching up.

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"For me, I'm just really proud of the way we ran our campaign," Grossman said in a phone interview Thursday night. Grossman said her campaign was based on being transparent, accessible and honest.

"I think that resonated with voters in (District) 2B. So I'm excited to get to work to serve them," she said.

The district encompasses most of the city of Hagerstown.

In a Facebook post late Thursday, Grossman said she is "committed to being accessible throughout my term, to translate your problems and ideas into action at the state level, and to overall bring a new style and a new dawn to representation in Hagerstown."

Thiam, who observed most of the ballot canvass Thursday, confirmed in a phone interview Thursday night that she had called Grossman and conceded the race.

"We worked hard and I campaigned hard, and the people who supported me worked hard on my behalf," Thiam said. "I'm just appreciative of the fact that when I was appointed, the (Washington County Republican) Central Committee ... felt I was capable enough to do the job and I did it."

When you're a Republican in a heavily Democratic district, as 2B is, "you can't be too far right. You have to be a moderate. Representing Democrats and Republicans, it can be tricky," Thiam said.

Thiam said she felt she did her best and was not upset about losing.

"I'm very strong in my faith," Thiam said. "I believe in God. I believe He has another path for me and it just wasn't state delegate."

Thiam said she will focus on the nonprofit she and her husband established during the COVID-19 pandemic, which is expected to provide residential homes and supported employment for adults with autism. They are working with the state to finish their application for Oasis Community Support Services to become a provider of those services, she said.

Grossman said she will keep her job as chief mission officer for Horizon Goodwill Industries. She said she wasn't at Thursday's ballot canvassing because she was at a conference in North Carolina doing a presentation for work.

Grossman's lead grew with more mail-in ballots counted

With Thursday's count of 903 more votes for Grossman and 348 for Thiam, that gives Grossman 4,668 votes to Thiam's 4,079. That's a 589-vote lead.

Even if the remaining mail-in ballots buck the trend of favoring the Democratic candidate, Thiam would have a tough time making up the difference.

There are 460 more District 2B mail-in ballots that were sent out and not yet received by the Washington County Board of Elections as of the end of Thursday, according to data provided by the election office.

There are about 800 provisional ballots plus about 60 to 75 mail-in ballots received later Thursday that haven't yet been counted, Deputy Election Director Barry Jackson said. How many of those are District 2B ballots was not known Thursday. The election board will review provisional ballots this weekend to determine which are eligible, Jackson said.

Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 18.

County ballot canvassers will continue reviewing mail-in ballots on Monday.

Thiam was seeking her first election to the House of Delegates after being appointed to the District 2B seat in 2020 to fill a vacancy left by former Del. Paul Corderman, R-Washington. Corderman was appointed to the Maryland Senate to fill the vacancy left when former Sen. Andrew Serafini, R-Washington, retired from the General Assembly.

District 2B ballot issues reviewed

The Board of Canvassers voted Thursday, at first, to reject a 2B ballot for which the oath had not been signed by the voter, Jackson said.

Later in the day, the board voted again and decided to research that ballot. That means election officials will contact that voter, who is in Precinct 17, Jackson said. Precinct 17's polling place is Bester Elementary School.

When canvassers saw the oath hadn't been signed, they didn't look at the votes on the ballot, Jackson said.

The board also voted to duplicate a ballot and leave out the vote for either 2B candidate because the oval for Thiam was completely filled in, but there was a line through the oval for Grossman, Jackson said. That ballot was from a voter in Precinct 25-1, whose polling place is the Bethel Gardens Community Center.

The board originally ruled it was a vote for Thiam, Jackson said. But the board re-reviewed the matter after considering state law, which stipulates that a horizontal or diagonal line from end to end through an oval would constitute a vote.

Jackson said Thiam challenged the board's decision, but the board stayed with its decision to duplicate the ballot without a vote for either 2B candidate, Jackson said.

Thiam, before Thursday's ballots were totaled, said she didn't know at the time if she would challenge the duplicated ballot through Washington County Circuit Court.

The ballot canvass on Thursday went through 2,000 ballots, of which 1,325 were for District 2B, Jackson said. The other 675 were from District 2A voters, of which there are more ballots to count on Monday.

Thursday's count only: Trone gains more votes than Parrott in Washington County

The other close race is for the 6th Congressional District between Democratic incumbent David Trone and Republican challenger Neil Parrott, who is from Washington County.

Jayce Haulik, a political field director for Parrott, said Parrott made a brief appearance Thursday at the canvassing in the Washington County Board of Elections headquarters south of Hagerstown.

Trone received another 1,466 votes in Washington County on Thursday, compared to 511 for Parrott.

That brings the county tallies so far to 26,976 votes for Parrott and 17,074 votes for Trone. However, district-wide, Parrott was ahead of Trone 104,606 to 101,795, according to unofficial and incomplete results Thursday night on the state elections board website.

The 6th District includes Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick and part of Montgomery County.

Mail-in and provisional ballots were being counted in the other counties Thursday, but details weren't immediately available Thursday night. More canvassing is expected across the state next week.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Democratic challenger Brooke Grossman wins Maryland delegate seat