In increasingly blue Frederick County, voters echo national anger, calls for change

Dozens of campaign signs bearing Sheriff Chuck Jenkins’ name were still stuck along Frederick County’s roadways the day after his stunning defeat in Tuesday’s election.

The winner of the race had far fewer signs. That may have been because Sheriff-elect Karl Bickel, the Democrat who beat Jenkins, admitted he hated campaigning after losing three times previously to Jenkins.

The dethroning of a GOP stalwart in the county was one of several examples of Republican seats flipping to Democrats in Maryland — and across the country — in Tuesday’s election. Democrats in Frederick County turned over more seats than any other county in the state.

In interviews this week, Democrats and political independents said the votes against Republicans were fueled by a broader effort to express deep disappointment with the Trump administration, a blue wave that upended many traditional Republican strongholds across the country.

That included Jamie Shopland, a Democrat who won a Frederick County Council seat held by Republicans for more than a decade.

Bruce Larson, a resident of the county’s Urbana suburb who teaches political science at Gettysburg College, said that in recent years he has felt voters are more informed on national issues.

“I think that filters down to the local level,” he said.

“Politics in the United States have become very nationalized.”

- Bruce Larson

Set in largely conservative Western Maryland, the county has been growing fast. Its largest city, Frederick, is now home to more than 90,000 residents. And the politics countywide have gradually shifted from solidly Republican to increasingly Democratic, though still politically purple.

The anti-Trump vote appeared to have far-reaching impact, snatching even lower-profile positions of Frederick County’s clerk of courts and register of wills out of the control of Republicans. Outrage over President Donald Trump’s policies seemed to give Democrats an edge at all levels of government at the polls, especially after thousands of federal workers were directly impacted by Trump’s cuts to the workforce.

As he made his rounds on Election Day, Frederick County Del. Kris Fair was struck by the long lines and cars parked on the grass at Waverly Elementary. It was the polling place for the community where a violent clash with federal immigration agents erupted two months ago.

“I have been doing campaigns in Frederick County for 25 years. I have never in my entire life seen a polling place that packed on Election Day,” said Fair, a Democrat and chair of the Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus. “People were that angry over the issues of immigration, angry at the sheriff for his callous responses to their anxieties and fears.”

A county transformed

For decades, Frederick County was known for its farmlands, its rolling Appalachian foothills and its once-dominating conservative politics, earning its residents the nickname “Frednecks,” many longtime locals recalled.

But, just before the turn of the century, the county’s population began to explode, according to data from the Census Bureau. And by 2024 Frederick County had 10,000 more registered Democratic voters than Republicans.

Still, more than a quarter of its registered voters are independents — compared to about 12% statewide — who could swing the balance of power between the leading political parties.

As the population grew, the city of Frederick transformed from a small town into a bustling and progressive metropolitan center where tens of thousands of people shop, eat and work every day. Its main streets have maintained their quaint Colonial feel, but the outskirts have quickly developed.

The city in recent years has mostly elected Democrats, including Christian Benford, a 26-year-old Frederick native who was backed by the Democratic Socialists of America and won a County Council seat this week. Benford said he was shocked seeing the blue wave hit so close to home, especially in the sheriff’s race.

Benford said he believes Frederick County voters “saw Jenkins as this extension of the Trump MAGA machine.”

“To see that blue wave extend even through the sheriff’s office, it’s indescribable.”

- Christian Benford

Jenkins and Bickel did not return requests for comment after the election.

Republican state Sen. Justin Ready, who represents parts of Carroll County and Frederick, thinks the election outcomes are partly a result of an influx of liberal residents leaving places such as Montgomery County. He said Maryland Democratic voters overlook how their local leaders have contributed to the affordability crisis.

A GOP member of the Senate since 2015, he also lamented the politics of redistricting, which put some of Frederick County into his district three years ago.

“Maryland is very federally focused and, when the national wave comes, you get caught up in it,” Ready said.

View from the pews

The Rev. Beth Hutton, senior pastor of Calvary United Methodist Church in Frederick, said she serves a congregation with Republicans and Democrats. But she said people on both sides of the political aisle have come to her with worries over the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement campaign in their communities.

“On both sides, I have heard questions and concerns about oversight and training and making sure our local law enforcement aren’t getting caught up in the crossfire of some of the federal actions going on.”

- Pastor Beth Hutton

Those recent episodes may have driven some to the polls, residents said.

Mileah Kromer, director of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Institute of Politics, said Frederick County voters may have focused on Jenkins’ support of local cooperation with the Trump administration’s intense immigration enforcement.

“That certainly was a detriment to him,” Kromer said.

Alysoun McLaughlin of the University of Maryland’s Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement, said despite Democratic gains recently, the county remains divided between the party and its GOP foes, according to voter registration records.

Frederick is home to Maryland’s only large-scale data center development, and one of its chief proponents, Jessica Fitzwater, was reelected as county executive.

In a year when so many voted blue, even a largely unpopular local issue, making a deal with data center developers, wasn’t enough to unseat incumbent Democrats, some residents said.

“Her campaign messaging is my opponent is MAGA,” Steve Black, a farmer in Frederick County who has been a leading advocate against data centers, said of Fitzwater’s candidacy. He added that “she should probably send a fruit basket to the president.”

A lot of the data center development proponents in the county lost in the primaries, according to Black. The general election, he said, was more focused on national politics.

“National issues are affecting people’s daily lives in real ways, from the rising cost of childcare to concerns about the rights and well-being of our most vulnerable neighbors,” Fitzwater wrote in an email. “The results of this local election demonstrate that Frederick County residents want a government focused on investing in our schools, reducing the cost of living, and building a community where everyone feels welcome and has the opportunity to thrive.”

Karen Gebhart, a resident of the county since 2000 and a self-described purple voter, said she felt the messaging this year was largely “vote Democrat to vote against Trump.”

She said she hopes the incoming group of politicians at all levels forgoes punishing the Republican Party and gets to work.

“We’ve been waiting. Go fix it.”

- Karen Gebhart

Banner reporters Hallie Miller and Pamela Wood contributed to this article.