A Baltimore Sun poll published in that newspaper this morning finds Clinton and Van Hollen both enjoying large leads in Maryland. The poll found Clinton leading Trump 54% to 25%, and Democratic Congressman Chris Van Hollen leading Republican State Delegate Kathy Szeliga 55% to 26% in their race to replace retiring Senator Barbara Mikulski in the U.S. Senate.
The poll found that Trump is losing every demographic: men, women, white, black, young and old. Trump enjoys the support of only 3% of Maryland blacks, and is trailing white voters by 10% and independent voters by 25%.
Szeliga is one of the many Republican politicians in this country who is supporting Trump while expressing her disagreement with his more extreme positions. Van Hollen also leads Szeliga among every demographic group: independents, whites, blacks, men, women, but trails the Republican in the rural parts of the state: the Eastern Shore, Southern Maryland, and Western Maryland. These rural regions have been heavily red in every election since the 1990’s; however, Van Hollen, surprisingly, trails Szeliga in western Maryland by only 4 points.
The one negative spot for Democrats is that the poll finds Republican Governor Larry Hogan remaining extremely popular: 71% of registered voters including 63% of Democrats approve of the job Hogan is doing as governor. Hogan’s popularity has grown by 8 points since the last Sun survey last November, and far surpasses the highest ratings O’Malley received during O’Malley’s eight years as governor. 72% of those surveyed in traditionally Democratic Baltimore (but not me) approve of Hogan’s performance as governor; however, only 28% of voters in Montgomery Country and 24% of voters in Prince Georges Country — the two counties abutting Washington DC, approve of Hogan’s performance. Hogan’s popularity may be due in small part to his refusal to endorse Trump or to attend the Republican National Convention. Nonetheless, these numbers do not bode well for any Democrat seeking to regain the governorship in 2018.