Maryland Republican Dan Cox seeks to win House seat following gubernatorial defeat.

Former Maryland Gubernatorial Candidate Aims to Flip District

Former Maryland gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox has set his sights on turning his state’s 6th Congressional District from blue to red in 2024.

The Republican wasted no time and filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission on July 3.

Currently, Maryland’s 6th District is represented by third-term Rep. David Trone (D-Md.).

In May, Trone announced his intention to vacate the seat and run for Sen. Ben Cardin’s (D-Md.) Senate seat, as Cardin plans to retire at the end of his current term.

Cox, a former state delegate, gained the endorsement of former President Donald Trump during his 2022 gubernatorial campaign. Despite defeating the more moderate Kelly Schulz in the GOP primary, Cox was ultimately defeated by the state’s current Democratic Governor, Wes Moore.

Prior to his run for governor, Cox also sought Maryland’s 8th Congressional District seat in 2016. Although he won the primary, he lost the race to Democrat Rep. Jamie Raskin.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Cox emerged as a vocal critic of former Republican Governor Larry Hogan’s policies, including mask mandates and stay-at-home orders.

During his time in the state’s General Assembly, Cox even introduced articles of impeachment against Hogan. However, these articles were ultimately rejected by members of his own party.

Although he did not challenge the results of the 2022 election, Cox made a request to the U.S. Supreme Court in January to reverse an emergency state court order issued before the election. This order suspended parts of Maryland’s election law that prohibited the early counting of mail-in ballots.

Cox argued that the court order violated the integrity of the election.