GOP Andy Harris eyes likely reelection in Maryland’s 1st District

GOP Rep. Andy Harris appeared to be on his way to a ninth term in Congress, maintaining Maryland’s sole Republican presence in the House of Representatives despite a strong Democratic showing across the nation.

Election results posted at 10:45 p.m. showed Harris out ahead by a wide margin, all but ending Democrat Dan Schwartz’s effort to flip the seat. The race drew national attention last month when Harris scolded audience members, and later the media, at a candidate forum.

Harris remains one of Washington’s most powerful Republicans, with a direct line to President Donald Trump while leading the conservative House Freedom Caucus and holding a leadership role on federal spending.

Harris’ apparent victory is unsurprising even amid a grim political climate for Republicans. The district, which covers all nine counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore and parts of Baltimore and Harford counties, is drawn to elect a Republican and has made him the state’s only GOP member of Congress for more than a decade.

Harris gathered with a few dozen supporters at the Portside Seafood Restaurant in Cambridge to watch the results. Banner reporters attending the event with journalists from other outlets were asked to leave the private event after a Harris aide asked them where they worked.

First elected in 2010, the former state senator representing Baltimore County rode a Tea Party wave into Congress, defeating former Democratic Rep. Frank Kratovil. Harris has since won every election by double-digit margins.

Harris often aligns with President Donald Trump’s MAGA agenda, including voting for extensive cuts to food and healthcare benefits in exchange for tax breaks for the wealthy in Trump’s tax plan, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Those cuts could mean losses or changes in benefits for tens of thousands of people in his district.

Harris is known among Maryland Republicans for his support of the Eastern Shore’s seafood and farming industries, traditional GOP voting blocs. A prolific earmarker, Harris has brought tens of millions of federal dollars to his district for community projects like fire trucks and creek dredging.

Diehard GOP voters stuck by their party, voted for Harris and hoped Republicans would keep control of Congress.

Joanne Harwood, a Republican from Easton, voted for Harris to keep her district red.

“He votes Republican, and he votes with President Trump,” the 83-year-old said of Harris. Harwood, who is retired from selling commercial real estate, likes Trump’s policy to stop unauthorized immigration at the U.S.’s southern border and prosecute the war in Iran.

Republican Stephen Parks of Federalsburg said he voted for Harris because of his distrust of Democrats in the state like Gov. Wes Moore. Parks, a 43-year-old small business owner, blamed Moore’s party for high taxes and fees.

“We had a surplus now we have a deficit. We have budget issues,” he said.

Schwartz, a former consumer protection watchdog, quit his job in April 2025 to launch a full-time campaign to beat Harris. Moore and members of Maryland’s federal delegation have supported his campaign.

“This is not a concession speech,” Schwartz said shortly after 10 p.m. as early results showed Harris ahead by roughly 10 percentage points. “It’s not the speech I wanted to give, but I wanted to talk with you while we’re all still here.”

Schwartz held an election night party in a room packed with dozens of friends, family and supporters at a Stevensville brew pub. Just hours before, the crowd whooped and hollered as favorable results poured in for Democrats across the country.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen now, but the numbers aren’t looking good,” Schwartz told his backers.

During the Cambridge debate during the campaign, Harris drew laughter and jeers from the audience after he blamed soaring diesel prices on Democratic environmental regulations. He lashed out at audience members, telling them they were “rude” for their response.

Moments after the debate ended, Harris berated members of the press and singled out a student journalist who asked him to respect her colleagues. He falsely claimed she was violating Maryland’s wiretap law when she refused to stop recording him and threatened her with prosecution. His performance gave his opponent’s campaign a financial boost and name recognition as the videotaped incident made its way to national news broadcasts.

“I wasn’t happy about it,” said Cindi Link, a Republican from Federalsburg, who saw Harris’ argument with a reporter. But it didn’t change her decision to vote for him.

Harris isn’t her first choice, the 61-year-old counselor said, but Democrats didn’t give her “something to vote for.”

Both parties have been locked in a battle over control of Congress. Trump last summer asked state legislatures to redraw congressional maps to favor GOP candidates.

Democrats, in the majority in Maryland’s General Assembly, have eyed Harris’s district as an offering. Voters approved a ballot measure Tuesday that could make it easier for Democrats to draw Harris out of Congress.

Both Harris and Schwartz opposed the ballot measure, saying they preferred to battle it out at the polls.

The 120th Congress will be sworn in on January 3, 2027.

Banner columnist Rick Hutzell contributed to this article.