Maryland's 3rd congressional district

Maryland's 3rd congressional district comprises portions of Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and Anne Arundel counties, as well as a significant part of the independent city of Baltimore. The seat is currently represented by John Sarbanes, a Democrat. Landmarks in the district include Fort McHenry and the state capital, Annapolis.

Maryland's 3rd congressional district
Maryland's 3rd congressional district since January 3, 2013
Representative	John Sarbanes D–Towson
Area	292.74 sq mi (758.2 km^2)
Distribution	98.4% urban 1.3% rural
Population (2000)	662,062
Median income	$87,732[1]
Ethnicity	77.3% white 16.3% black 3.2% Asian 2.9% Hispanic 1.1% other 0.3% Native American
Occupation	71.7% White-collar 15.7% Blue-collar 12.5% Gray-collar
Cook PVI	D+13[2]

Three people who represented Maryland in the United States Senate were also former representatives of the 3rd district, including Ben Cardin, Barbara Mikulski, and Paul Sarbanes.

The district's odd shape is attributed to gerrymandering to favor Democratic candidates following the 2000[3] and 2010[4] censuses. In 2012 the district was found to be the third least compact congressional district in the United States[5] and in 2014 The Washington Post called it the nation's second-most gerrymandered district.[6] John Sarbanes, the current Democratic Representative for the district, has put forth the For the People Act of 2019 to address electoral reform, voting rights and gerrymandering in the United States.[7][8]

Recent elections in statewide races

Year	Results
2000	Gore 55% – 41%
2004	Kerry 54% – 45%
2008	Obama 59% – 39%
2012	Obama 60.6% – 37.2%
2016	Clinton 62.9% – 32.1%

Recent elections

Maryland's 3rd Congressional District election, 2000

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Benjamin Cardin (Incumbent)	169,347	75.66
	Republican	Scott Conwell	53,827	24.05
	Libertarian	Joe Pomykala	238	0.11
	Write-ins		406	0.18
Total votes			223,818	100.00
	Democratic hold

Maryland's 3rd Congressional District election, 2002

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Benjamin Cardin (Incumbent)	145,589	65.79
	Republican	Scott Conwell	75,721	34.21
Total votes			221,310	100.00
	Democratic hold

Maryland's 3rd Congressional District election, 2004

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	Benjamin Cardin (Incumbent)	182,066	63.44%	-2.35
	Republican	Robert P. Duckworth	97,008	33.80%	-0.41
	Green	Patsy Allen	7,895	2.75%	+2.75
Total votes			286,969	100.00
	Democratic hold

Marylands's 3rd Congressional District election, 2006

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	John Sarbanes	150,142	64.03%	+0.59
	Republican	John White	79,174	33.76%	-0.04
	Libertarian	Charles Curtis McPeek, Sr.	4,941	2.11%	+2.11
	Write-ins		229	0.10%	+0.10
Total votes			234,486	100.00
	Democratic hold

Maryland's 3rd Congressional District election, 2008

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	John Sarbanes (Incumbent)	203,711	69.66%	+5.63
	Republican	Thomas E. Harris	87,971	30.08%	-3.68
	No party	Write-ins	766	0.26
Total votes			292,448	100.00
	Democratic hold		Swing

Maryland's 3rd Congressional District election, 2010

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Democratic	John Sarbanes (Incumbent)	147,448	61.07%	-8.59
	Republican	Jim Wilhelm	86,947	36.01%	+5.93
	Libertarian	Jerry McKinley	5,212	2.16%	+2.16
	Constitution	Alain Lareau	1,634	0.68%	+0.68
	No party	Write-ins	188	0.1%
Total votes			241,429	100.00
	Democratic hold

Maryland's 3rd Congressional District election, 2012[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Sarbanes (Incumbent)	213,747	66.8
	Republican	Eric Delano Knowles	94,549	29.6
	Libertarian	Paul R. Drgos, Jr.	11,028	3.4
	N/A	Others (write-in)	535	0.2
Total votes			319,859	100

Maryland's 3rd congressional district, 2014

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Sarbanes (incumbent)	128,594	59.6
	Republican	Charles A. Long	87,029	40.3
	n/a	Write-ins	323	0.1
Total votes			215,946	100.0
	Democratic hold

Maryland's 3rd congressional district, 2016[10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Sarbanes (incumbent)	214,640	63.2
	Republican	Mark Plaster	115,048	33.9
	Green	Nnabu Eze	9,461	2.8
	n/a	Write-ins	526	0.1
Total votes			339,675	100.0
	Democratic hold

Maryland's 3rd congressional district, 2018

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	John Sarbanes (incumbent)	202,407	69.1
	Republican	Charles Anthony	82,774	28.3
	Libertarian	J. David Lashar	7,476	2.6
	n/a	Write-ins	223	0.1
Total votes			292,880	100.0
	Democratic hold

Historical boundaries and composition

The district, from 2003 to 2013

Maryland's 3rd district was one of the 61 districts that elected a representative to the 1st United States Congress. It also has the distinction of being one of the few congressional districts that once included areas not currently in the state they are in. The 3rd congressional district originally was composed of Prince George's County, Maryland and Anne Arundel County, Maryland.[11] At that point what is now Howard County, Maryland was in Anne Arundel County, and Prince George's County included the eastern half of the District of Columbia.

In 1792 the Maryland 3rd Congressional District was moved to include Montgomery County, Maryland and the eastern half of Frederick County, Maryland. The population was about 33,000.[12] However, the western portion of what is today Carroll County, Maryland was at this point in Frederick County, and the western half of the District of Columbia was in Montgomery County. This latter fact explains why the district lost population even though it in theory did not experience redistricting after the 1800 census. With the population of Georgetown, D. C. no longer in the district, its 1800 population was about 31,000.[13] At this point the 3rd was Maryland's least populous district, barely having half the population of the Baltimore City and County 5th district, which in 1800 had just above 59,000 inhabitants.[14]

The boundaries remained the same after the 1810, 1820 and 1830 censuses. While in 1820 the district had about 36,000 inhabitants its population had risen to 53,622 in 1830.[15] With the formation of Carroll County in the 1830s as well as Maryland falling from 8 to 6 congressional seats, the boundaries of the 3rd Congressional District were drastically redrawn. The only area that remained in the 3rd Congressional District was the part of Carroll County that had been in Frederick County. The 3rd also included Baltimore County and the western half of the city of Baltimore. Its new population was 69,923, 24.5% of whom were black.[16]

In 1853 the 3rd district was redrawn again. The new district consisted of Baltimore County except for the northern and western parts of the county and about the eastern third of the City of Baltimore. The district now had a population of 95,729.[17] In the redistricting following the 1860 census, Maryland was reduced to five congressional districts. The 3rd was moved so that it contained the part of Baltimore that had not been in the 3rd before 1863. It now had a population of 130,040.[18] In 1873 the 3rd district was moved again, to be the east side of Baltimore. It now had a population of 120,978.[19]

List of members representing the district

	Member	Party	Years	Congress	Electoral history
1	Benjamin Contee	Anti-Administration	March 4, 1789 – March 3, 1791	1st	Elected in 1789. Lost re-election.
2	William Pinkney	Pro-Administration	March 4, 1791 – November 1791	2nd	Elected in 1790. Resigned due to questions of ineligibility.
Vacant			November 1791 – February 5, 1792
3	John Francis Mercer	Anti-Administration	February 5, 1792 – March 3, 1793	2nd	Elected October 26–29, 1791 to finish Pinkney's term. Redistricted to the 2nd district.
4	Uriah Forrest	Pro-Administration	March 4, 1793 – November 8, 1794	3rd	Elected in 1792. Resigned.
Vacant			November 8, 1794 – January 2, 1795
5	Benjamin Edwards	Pro-Administration	January 2, 1795 – March 3, 1795	3rd	Elected December 8, 1794 to finish Forrest's term. Retired.
6	Jeremiah Crabb	Federalist	March 4, 1795 – June 1, 1796	4th	Elected in 1794. Resigned.
Vacant			June 1, 1796 – December 5, 1796
7	William Craik	Federalist	December 5, 1796 – March 3, 1801	4th 5th	Elected October 3, 1796 to finish Crabb's term. Also elected the same day to the next term. Re-elected in 1798. Retired.
8	Thomas Plater	Federalist	March 4, 1801 – March 3, 1805	6th 7th 8th	Elected in 1801. Re-elected in 1803. Lost re-election.
9	Patrick Magruder	Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1807	9th	Elected in 1804. Lost re-election.
10	Philip Barton Key	Federalist	March 4, 1807 – March 3, 1813	10th 11th 12th	Elected in 1806. Re-elected in 1808. Re-elected in 1810. Retired.
11	Alexander Contee Hanson	Federalist	March 4, 1813 – 1816	13th 14th	Elected in 1812. Re-elected in 1814. Resigned when elected U.S. Senator.
Vacant			1816 – October 7, 1816
12	George Peter	Federalist	October 7, 1816 – March 3, 1819	14th 15th	Elected to finish Hanson's term. Also elected to the next term in 1816. Lost re-election.
13	Henry Ridgely Warfield	Federalist	March 4, 1819 – March 3, 1823	16th 17th 18th	Elected in 1818. Re-elected in 1820. Retired.
		Adams Federalist	March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825
14	George Peter	Jacksonian	March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827	19th	Elected in 1824. Lost re-election.
15	George Corbin Washington	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1833	20th 21st 22nd	Elected in 1826. Re-elected in 1829. [data unknown/missing]
16	James Turner	Jacksonian	March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1837	23rd 24th	[data unknown/missing]
17	John Tolley Hood Worthington	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 3, 1841	25th 26th	[data unknown/missing]
18	James Wray Williams	Democratic	March 4, 1841 – December 2, 1842	27th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant			December 2, 1842 – January 2, 1843
19	Charles S. Sewall	Democratic	January 2, 1843 – March 3, 1843	27th	[data unknown/missing]
20	John Wethered	Whig	March 4, 1843 – March 3, 1845	28th	[data unknown/missing]
21	Thomas Watkins Ligon	Democratic	March 4, 1845 – March 3, 1849	29th 30th	[data unknown/missing]
22	Edward Hammond	Democratic	March 4, 1849 – March 3, 1853	31st 32nd	[data unknown/missing]
23	Joshua Van Sant	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 3, 1855	33rd	[data unknown/missing]
24	James Morrison Harris	Know Nothing	March 4, 1855 – March 3, 1861	34th 35th 36th	[data unknown/missing]
25	Cornelius Leary	Unionist	March 4, 1861 – March 3, 1863	37th	[data unknown/missing]
26	Henry Winter Davis	Unconditional Unionist	March 4, 1863 – March 3, 1865	38th	[data unknown/missing]
27	Charles Edward Phelps	Unconditional Unionist	March 4, 1865 – March 3, 1867	39th 40th	[data unknown/missing]
		Conservative	March 4, 1867 – March 3, 1869
28	Thomas Swann	Democratic	March 4, 1869 – March 3, 1873	41st 42nd	[data unknown/missing] Redistricted to the 4th district.
29	William James O'Brien	Democratic	March 4, 1873 – March 3, 1877	43rd 44th	[data unknown/missing]
30	William Kimmel	Democratic	March 4, 1877 – March 3, 1881	45th 46th	[data unknown/missing]
31	Fetter Schrier Hoblitzell	Democratic	March 4, 1881 – March 3, 1885	47th 48th	[data unknown/missing]
32	William Hinson Cole	Democratic	March 4, 1885 – July 8, 1886	49th	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant			July 8, 1886 – November 2, 1886
33	Harry Welles Rusk	Democratic	November 2, 1886 – March 3, 1897	49th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd 54th	[data unknown/missing]
34	William Samuel Booze	Republican	March 4, 1897 – March 3, 1899	55th	[data unknown/missing]
35	Frank Charles Wachter	Democratic	March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1907	56th 57th 58th 59th	[data unknown/missing]
36	Harry Benjamin Wolf	Democratic	March 4, 1907 – March 3, 1909	60th	[data unknown/missing]
37	John Kronmiller	Republican	March 4, 1909 – March 3, 1911	61st	[data unknown/missing]
38	George Konig	Democratic	March 4, 1911 – May 31, 1913	62nd 63rd	[data unknown/missing] Died.
Vacant			May 31, 1913 – November 4, 1913
39	Charles Pearce Coady	Democratic	November 4, 1913 – March 3, 1921	63rd 64th 65th 66th	[data unknown/missing]
40	John B.P.C. Hill	Republican	March 4, 1921 – March 3, 1927	67th 68th 69th	[data unknown/missing]
41	Vincent Palmisano	Democratic	March 4, 1927 – January 3, 1939	70th 71st 72nd 73rd 74th 75th	[data unknown/missing]
42	Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.	Democratic	January 3, 1939 – May 16, 1947	76th 77th 78th 79th 80th	[data unknown/missing] Resigned to become Mayor of Baltimore.
Vacant			May 16, 1947 – July 15, 1947
43	Edward Garmatz	Democratic	July 15, 1947 – January 3, 1973	80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd	[data unknown/missing]
44	Paul Sarbanes	Democratic	January 3, 1973 – January 3, 1977	93rd 94th	Redistricted from the 4th district. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
45	Barbara Mikulski	Democratic	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1987	95th 96th 97th 98th 99th	Elected in 1976. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
46	Ben Cardin	Democratic	January 3, 1987 – January 3, 2007	100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th	Elected in 1986. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
47	John Sarbanes	Democratic	January 3, 2007 – Present	110th 111th 112th 113th 114th 115th 116th	Elected in 2006.

See also

• Maryland's congressional districts
• Gerrymandering
• List of United States congressional districts

References

1. https://www.census.gov/mycd/?st=24&cd=03
2. "Partisan Voting Index – Districts of the 115th Congress" (PDF). The Cook Political Report. April 7, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
3. "Politics Makes Strange Bedfellows, Even Stranger Congressional Boundaries". Maryland Newsline, University of Maryland. February 20, 2004. Retrieved May 6, 2007.
4. "Maryland Redistricting Plan Advances". The Washington Post. October 17, 2011.
5. Lazarick, Len (October 3, 2012). "Maryland has least compact congressional districts in nation". MarylandReporter.com. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
6. Ingraham, Christopher (May 15, 2014). "America's most gerrymandered congressional districts". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
7. Sarbanes, John (January 3, 2019). "H.R.1 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): To expand Americans' access to the ballot box, reduce the influence of big money in politics, and strengthen ethics rules for public servants, and for other purposes". www.congress.gov. Archived from the original on January 7, 2019. Retrieved January 6, 2019.
8. 116th Congress (2019) (January 3, 2019). "H.R. 1 (116th)". Legislation. GovTrack.us. Retrieved March 7, 2019. For the People Act of 2019
9. "Unofficial 2012 Presidential General Election results for Representative in Congress". Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
10. "Official 2016 Presidential General Election results for Representative in Congress". Maryland Secretary of State. Retrieved December 9, 2016.
11. Parson, Stanley B., William W. Beach and Dan Hermann. United States Congressional Districts, 1788–1841 (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1978) p. 8-9
12. Parsons. Congressional Districts. p. 42-43
13. Parsons. Congressional Districts. p. 93-94
14. Parsons. Congressional Districts. p. 94
15. Parsons. Congressional Districts p. 234, 318
16. Parson, Stanley B., William W. Beach and Michael J. Durbin. United States Congressional Districts, 1843–1883 (Westport: Greenwood Press, 1986) p. 16
17. Parsons. Con. Dis. 1843–1883 p. 64
18. Parsons. Con. Dis. 1843–1883 p. 115
19. Parsons. Con. Dis. 1843–1883 p. 177