RACHEL RAVINA/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
Senator-elect Mary Beth Carozza is all smiles after beating incumbent Jim Mathias in the heated race for the Maryland District 38 Senate seat.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor and Rachel Ravina, Staff Writer

(Nov. 8, 2018) A changing of the guard took place Tuesday as Republican Delegate Mary Beth Carozza became Senator Carozza, besting incumbent Democrat Jim Mathias in the highly contested race for Maryland State Senate in District 38.

According to the Maryland State Board of Elections, Carozza won by 2,840 votes, earning 53 percent of the total votes to Mathias’ 46.9 percent.

Carozza declared victory shortly after 10:30 p.m. Applause filled the room of her watch party at Mad Fish Bar & Grill in West Ocean City, as she expressed her gratitude and called the victory a team effort.

“We thank God for us being here to be able to serve and, to my heart of hearts, I thank each and every one of you for all you’ve done to make tonight’s victory possible,” Carozza said. “Thank you, from my heart.”

Mathias conceded about 30 minutes later. Up until Tuesday, the former Ocean City councilman, Ocean City mayor and delegate had never lost an election.

Tears filled his eyes as he addressed a roomful of staffers and volunteers at Tall Tales Brewery in Parsonsburg.

“The most important thing is the people have spoken and that’s what our politics are all about – it’s about the people and it’s about their choice,” he said. “I congratulate the senator-elect. I know there’s plenty of work to do and, as we go forward, I’m offering my help to be there as we carry on.”

Elsewhere in Worcester County, the majority of races went about as expected.

Incumbent District 38A Del. Charles Otto, a Republican, held his seat, besting Democratic challenger Kirkland Hall by 2,631 votes, or nearly 20 percentage points. Otto won 59.5 percent of the vote compared to Kirkland’s 40.4 percent.

In the race for the District 38C delegate seat vacated by Carozza, Republican Wayne Hartman coasted to victory, winning 95.4 percent of the vote. According to the Maryland State Board of Elections, “Other Write-Ins” earned the remaining 4.6 percent.

In Worcester County Commissioners races, three Republican incumbents won reelection.

Bud Church bested Berlin Town Councilman Zackery Tyndall in the race for District 3 (2,302 votes to 1,182), Ted Elder held off former commissioner Virgil Shockley in District 4 (1,586 votes to 1,367) and Chip Bertino beat Judy Butler in District 5 (2,516 votes to 1,451).

One seat, however, was turned over, as Democrat Joshua Nordstrom edged out incumbent Republican Merrill Lockfaw, 1,321 votes to 1,138, in the District 1 race. Nordstrom will join County Commissioner President Diana Purnell as the only two Democrats on the seven-member panel.

Purnell (District 2), Madison “Jim” Bunting (District 6) and Joseph Mitrecic (District 7) each won reelection without opposition.

In other contested races, Terri Delaney Westcott, a Republican, easily defeated Democrat Nicole Caudell 13,790 votes to 7,550, in the register of wills contest.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan also coasted to victory, earning a second term.

In Worcester, Hogan won 76.3 percent of the vote, with Democrat Ben Jealous coming in second with 22.7 percent. Hogan received 16,925 votes in Worcester County, while Jealous won 5,049 votes.

Statewide, Hogan received 1,194,866 votes, good for 56.2 percent, while Jealous earned 909,024 votes, or 42.7 percent of the total.

Comptroller Peter Franchot and Attorney General Brian Frosh were also reelected, as were U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin and Rep. Andy Harris.