Register of wills primaries: Most incumbents prevail; frontrunners emerge in PG county

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Maryland’s incumbent registers of wills largely either won or held powerful leads in their Tuesday primary races for reelection, whereas two frontrunners emerged in a tight, 11-way Democratic race to fill the probate seat in Prince George’s County.

With all Election Day precincts reporting but thousands more mail-in ballots to be counted, Baltimore City Register of Wills Belinda Conaway held a steady lead of more than 15 percentage points Wednesday afternoon over former employee Shanai Dunmore, whose Democratic primary bid endangered the Conaway family’s long-running control of the probate office following an eyebrow-raising state audit. The nominee will face Republican social worker Andy Zipay, who faces an uphill battle in November’s general election: Democrats outnumber Republicans in the city by more than 10 to 1.

In Anne Arundel County, incumbent Jasmine Jackson declared victory after netting about two-thirds of the Democratic votes for register of wills, her first election win after being appointed in the wake of scandals involving county probate officials. She will face Republican Jason D. Lambert in November’s general election.

Other incumbents had strong leads over their challengers. Howard County Register of Wills Byron E. Macfarlane led estate attorney Ajile F. Brown by 28%, incumbent Loraine D. Hennessy held nearly half of the votes in Charles County’s four-way Democratic primary race, and Carroll County‘s Paul G. Zimmermann’s votes outnumbered his challenger’s by almost 3 to 1.

The same could not be said of Paul J. Dollahite, who was appointed earlier this year to fill former Montgomery County Register of Wills Joe Griffin’s seat after the longtime probate official’s death. State workforce development official Barbara Ebel led Dollahite by more than 11% in the county’s Democratic primary, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections’ unofficial returns as of Wednesday afternoon. The Democratic nominee will face Republican Dolores Reyes, who was unopposed in her primary, in November.

Caroline County had a much closer race on the Republican side, where six candidates are seeking to unseat Linda Dunn. While Dunn held the lead as of Wednesday afternoon, she was only 187 votes ahead of county commissioner and Delaware Auction Center owner Frank Bartz. No mail-in ballots had been counted yet in Caroline County.

The race was more crowded in Prince George’s County, where 11 Democrats sought to fill the seat being vacated by Cereta A. Lee.

No Republicans are running in the Prince George’s race. Kayla Bryant, a former county register of wills employee, led the Democratic field with about 18% of the vote Wednesday afternoon. She stayed ahead of former county board of education at-large member Jocelyn Route by only about 1,200 votes.

The packed Prince George’s race seemed to be the most competitive for the probate position in the state. Maryland Gov. Wes Moore got into the mix, endorsing his ally and fellow Army veteran Antwan C. Brown. As of Wednesday afternoon, Brown was in third with about 14% of the vote.