U.S. House district for Maryland
Maryland's 8th congressional district Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2023
Representative Area 297.06 sq mi (769.4 km2 ) Distribution Population (2023) 771,551 Median household income $132,789[ 1] Ethnicity Cook PVI D+29[ 2]
Maryland's 8th congressional district is concentrated almost entirely in Montgomery County , with a small portion in Prince George's County .[ 3] Adjacent to Washington, D.C. , the 8th district takes in many of the city’s wealthiest inner-ring suburbs, including Bethesda , Chevy Chase , and Potomac . It also includes several more economically and racially diverse communities, the most populous of which are Rockville and Silver Spring .
With a median household income of $120,948, it is the ninth-wealthiest congressional district in the nation. The 8th district also has the eighth-highest share of residents with at least a bachelor's degree , at 63.9%. Those above-average numbers are largely due to the substantial presence of the federal government in nearby Washington, where thousands of the 8th district’s residents commute to work on a daily basis. Several federal agencies are likewise located within the 8th district, including the Food and Drug Administration , the National Institutes of Health , the Nuclear Regulatory Commission , and the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center . Two Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in the district: Lockheed Martin and Marriott International .[ 4] Almost 40% of the district's residents are immigrants, with the largest numbers coming from El Salvador , Ethiopia , India , China , Korea , Guatemala , and Peru . The district includes the Little Ethiopia area of Silver Spring and Takoma Park, and has the largest Ethiopian American population of any congressional district.[ 5]
Politically, the district is heavily liberal. It has consistently sent Democratic representatives to Congress by wide margins since 2002. In 2020, Joe Biden won nearly 80% of its vote. Democrat Jamie Raskin has represented the seat since 2017.
The district was created after the 1790 census in time for the 1792 election , was abolished after the 1830 census , and was reinstated after the 1960 census .
During redistricting after the 2000 census , the Democratic-dominated Maryland legislature sought to unseat then-incumbent Republican Connie Morella [citation needed ] . One proposal went so far as to divide the district in two, effectively giving one to state Senator Christopher Van Hollen, Jr. and forcing Morella to run against popular Maryland State Delegate and Kennedy political family member Mark Kennedy Shriver [citation needed ] . The final redistricting plan was less ambitious, restoring an eastern, heavily Democratic spur of Montgomery County removed in the 1990 redistricting to the 8th District[citation needed ] (encompassing nearly all of the area "inside the Beltway"), as well as adding an adjacent portion from heavily Democratic Prince George's County . Although it forced Van Hollen and Shriver to run against each other in an expensive primary, the shift still made the district even more Democratic than its predecessor, and Van Hollen defeated Morella in 2002 .
From 2003 to 2013 the district, in addition to the larger part of Montgomery County and the small portion of Prince George's County, included most of Frederick County (but not the City of Frederick), and southern Carroll County . The redrawn district was slightly less Democratic than its predecessor. While the Carroll and Frederick portions of the district tilted strongly Republican, the Montgomery County portion had twice as many people as the rest of the district combined, and Montgomery's Democratic tilt was enough to keep the district in the Democratic column. Since Morella left office, no Republican has crossed the 40 percent mark in the 8th District.
Cities of 10,000 or more people[ edit ]
Silver Spring – 81,015
Bethesda – 68,056
Rockville – 67,117
Wheaton – 52,150
Aspen Hill – 51,063
North Bethesda – 50,094
Potomac – 47,018
Olney – 35,820
Montgomery Village – 34,893
Fairland – 25,396
North Potomac – 23,790
Redland – 18,592
Takoma Park – 17,629
Calverton – 17,316
Damascus – 17,224
Glenmont – 16,710
White Oak – 16,347
Colesville – 15,421
Cloverly – 15,285
Flower Hill – 14,108
Kemp Mill – 13,378
Travilah – 11,985
Chevy Chase – 10,176
2,500 – 10,000 people[ edit ]
North Kensington – 9,497
Leisure World – 9,215
South Kensington – 8,829
Four Corners – 8,316
Forest Glen – 6,897
Darnestown – 6,723
Hillandale – 5,774
Layhill – 5,764
Ashton-Sandy Spring – 5,746
Friendship Heights Village – 5,360
Brookmont – 3,751
Burnt Mills – 3,592
Town of Chevy Chase – 2,904
Derwood – 2,535
Recent statewide election results [ edit ]
List of members representing the district [ edit ]
#
Member
Party
Years
Con- gress
Electoral history
District location
District created March 4, 1793
1
William Vans Murray (Cambridge )
Pro-Administration
March 4, 1793 – March 3, 1795
3rd 4th
Redistricted from the 5th district and re-elected in 1792 .Re-elected in 1794 . Retired.
1793–1803 [data missing ]
Federalist
March 4, 1795 – March 3, 1797
2
John Dennis (Somerset County )
Federalist
March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1805
5th 6th 7th 8th
Elected in 1796 .Re-elected in 1798 .Re-elected in 1801 .Re-elected in 1803 . Retired.
1803–1813 [data missing ]
3
Charles Goldsborough (Cambridge )
Federalist
March 4, 1805 – March 3, 1817
9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th
Elected in 1804 .Re-elected in 1806 .Re-elected in 1808 .Re-elected in 1810 .Re-elected in 1812 .Re-elected in 1814 . Retired.
1813–1823 [data missing ]
4
Thomas Bayly (Princess Anne )
Federalist
March 4, 1817 – March 3, 1823
15th 16th 17th
Elected in 1816 .Re-elected in 1818 .Re-elected in 1820 . Retired.
5
John S. Spence (Poplartown )
Democratic-Republican [ a]
March 4, 1823 – March 3, 1825
18th
Elected in 1822 . Lost re-election.
1823–1833 [data missing ]
6
Robert N. Martin (Princess Anne )
Anti-Jacksonian
March 4, 1825 – March 3, 1827
19th
Elected in 1824 . Retired.
7
Ephraim King Wilson (Snow Hill )
Anti-Jacksonian
March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1829
20th 21st
Re-elected in 1826 .Re-elected in 1829 . Retired.
Jackson
March 4, 1829 – March 3, 1831
8
John S. Spence (Berlin )
Anti-Jacksonian
March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833
22nd
Elected in 1831 .[data missing ]
9
John T. Stoddert (Harris Lot )
Jackson
March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1835
23rd
Elected in 1833 . Retired.
1833–1835 [data missing ]
Seat eliminated March 4, 1835
Seat re-created January 3, 1967
10
Gilbert Gude (Bethesda )
Republican
January 3, 1967 – January 3, 1977
90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th
Elected in 1966 .Re-elected in 1968 .Re-elected in 1970 .Re-elected in 1972 .Re-elected in 1974 . Retired.
1967–1973 Montgomery
1973–1983 Montgomery
11
Newton Steers (Bethesda )
Republican
January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1979
95th
Elected in 1976 . Lost re-election.
12
Michael D. Barnes (Kensington )
Democratic
January 3, 1979 – January 3, 1987
96th 97th 98th 99th
Elected in 1978 .Re-elected in 1980 .Re-elected in 1982 .Re-elected in 1984 . Retired to run for U.S. Senator .
1983–1993 Montgomery
13
Connie Morella (Bethesda )
Republican
January 3, 1987 – January 3, 2003
100th 101st 102nd 103rd 104th 105th 106th 107th
Elected in 1986 .Re-elected in 1988 .Re-elected in 1990 .Re-elected in 1992 .Re-elected in 1994 .Re-elected in 1996 .Re-elected in 1998 .Re-elected in 2000 . Lost re-election after redistricting.
1993–2003 Montgomery
14
Chris Van Hollen (Kensington )
Democratic
January 3, 2003 – January 3, 2017
108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th 114th
Elected in 2002 .Re-elected in 2004 .Re-elected in 2006 .Re-elected in 2008 .Re-elected in 2010 .Re-elected in 2012 .Re-elected in 2014 . Retired to run for U.S. Senator .
2003–2013 Montgomery , Prince George's
2013–2023 Montgomery , Frederick , Carroll
15
Jamie Raskin (Takoma Park )
Democratic
January 3, 2017 – present
115th 116th 117th 118th
Elected in 2016 .Re-elected in 2018 .Re-elected in 2020 .Re-elected in 2022 .
2023–present Montgomery
^ "My Congressional District" .
^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List" . The Cook Political Report . July 12, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022 .
^ "Congressional District Maps" . Prince George's County . Retrieved May 2, 2024 .
^ "Visualize the Fortune 500" . Fortune . Retrieved May 17, 2023 .
^ "The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States - Statistical Atlas" . statisticalatlas.com . Retrieved January 14, 2024 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (March 31, 1967). "Statistics of the Contressional Election of November 8, 1966" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office . Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (July 1, 1969). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1968" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 1, 1971). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1970" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (March 15, 1973). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 1972" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (August 1, 1975). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 4, 1974" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (April 15, 1977). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 1976" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (April 1, 1979). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 1978" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (April 15, 1981). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4, 1980" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 5, 1983). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 1982" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 1, 1985). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 6, 1984" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 29, 1987). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1986" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (April 20, 1989). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 8, 1988" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (April 29, 1991). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 6, 1990" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 31, 1993). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 3, 1992" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 12, 1995). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 8, 1994" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (July 29, 1997). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 5, 1996" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (January 3, 1999). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 3, 1998" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (June 21, 2001). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 7, 2000" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (May 1, 2003). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 5, 2002" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (June 7, 2005). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 2, 2004" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (September 21, 2007). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 7, 2006" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (July 10, 2009). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 4, 2008" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (June 3, 2011). "Statistics of the Congressional Election of November 2, 2010" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ Clerk of the House of Representatives (February 28, 2013). "Statistics of the Presidential and Congressional Election of November 6, 2012" (PDF) . U.S. Government Printing Office. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ "Official 2014 Gubernatorial General Election results for Representative in Congress" . Maryland State Board of Elections. December 2, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ "Official 2016 Presidential General Election results for Representative in Congress" . Maryland State Board of Elections. December 9, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
^ "Official 2020 Presidential General Election results for Representative in Congress" . Maryland State Board of Elections . Retrieved December 14, 2020 .
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