Ben Jealous, the Democratic nominee for governor in Md. (Photo by Gage Skidmore)

By WAMU’s Martin Austermuhle

Ben Jealous won the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Maryland on Tuesday, defeating Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker and a host of other candidates. He’ll take on Republican Gov. Larry Hogan this fall, a popular incumbent who already enjoys a significant fundraising advantage.

With almost all of the state’s precincts reporting by midnight, Jealous was ahead 39.8 percent to 29.3 percent for Baker, with Jim Shea trailing behind at 8.3 percent. Around 10:30 p.m., Baker placed a concession call to Jealous.

“Thank you, Maryland! I am proud to stand before you as your Democratic nominee for governor,” said Jealous during a victory speech to an energized crowd in Baltimore. “We are ready to pull our party together and go out there and beat Larry Hogan.”

Jealous, 45, out-performed Baker across much of the state, building up significant margins in Baltimore City and Baltimore County. And while Baker handily claimed his home base of Prince George’s County, Jealous narrowly beat Baker in neighboring Montgomery County.

In other statewide races, Sen. Ben Cardin (D) easily defeated seven challengers, including Chelsea Manning, while David Trone defeated Aruna Miller to win the Democratic nomination for the 6th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. John Delaney. Trone will face Republican nominee Amie Hoeber.

Throughout the gubernatorial campaign, Baker and Jealous consistently polled at the top of the field of Democratic contenders, which grew to as many as nine but shrunk down to six after Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz died suddenly in May and Valerie Ervin, his running mate, dropped out after she failed to convince election officials to order that ballots be reprinted to reflect her new role at the top of the ticket.

Jealous, the former head of the NAACP and first-time candidate, campaigned as a Bernie Sanders-style progressive with bold proposals on everything from education to healthcare, drawing support from unions and progressive groups across the state and nation. On the other hand, Baker, a former state delegate and outgoing Prince George’s County Executive, pitched voters on his experience in office, and attracted the backing of the party’s establishment figures.

The race also took on a regional dimension, with Jealous, whose family hails from Baltimore, attracting more support there, including the backing of The Baltimore Sun, while Baker drew more of his support from the populous D.C. suburbs, and was endorsed by The Washington Post.

On Tuesday, some voters said that while they thought both Baker and Jealous—either of one who could become Maryland’s first black governor—had things working in their favor, they believed Jealous would do a better job distinguishing himself from Republicans and in encouraging Democrats to vote in November.

“I think it’s important to stake out positions against this president, who’s the most destructive and divisive political leader in my lifetime,” said Nathan Holt, who voted in Takoma Park. “And while Hogan has done a number of good things — I don’t dislike the man — I do believe it’s important to draw a sharper contrast, and that’s why Ben Jealous is my candidate.”

Looking ahead to November

But despite the support that propelled him to victory, Jealous now faces what could be a more significant challenge: the race against Hogan, whose approval rating recently approached 60 percent and who in an April poll was favored by 44 percent of Maryland residents to 31 percent for Jealous.

“The biggest challenge a Democrat will have is a fundraising deficit and this is something really interesting and almost new for Democrats in Maryland,” said Mileah Kromer, a political science professor at Goucher College. “They also have to go against an incumbent with a 70-plus percent approval rating.”

That reality wasn’t lost on Marylanders who voted for Jealous on Tuesday.

“It is going to take a lot. He is very popular. He does go against the Republican Party as a whole when he feels it’s the best for Maryland, and I appreciate that a lot,” said Barbara Smith, a Democrat who voted in Silver Spring.

Hogan and running mate Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford also have more money stashed away for the fall campaign: likely north of $10 million, significantly more than Jealous or any of the Democratic candidates were able to raise.

Shortly after the race was called for Jealous, Hogan’s campaign issued a statement on his now competitor for the governorship in November.

“The choice before voters could not be clearer: In Governor Hogan, they find a steady hand who has worked in a bipartisan way to move Maryland in the right direction,” said campaign manager Jim Barnett. “In Ben Jealous, they find a risky blend of ideological extremism and recklessness who would move Maryland in the opposite direction and toward the bitter partisanship and dysfunction that poisons Washington, D.C.”

And in his victory speech, Jealous used similar language about the choice voters will face later this year—and he directly linked Hogan to Trump.

“Voters in Maryland now face a clear choice. Larry Hogan’s ‘go along to get along’ politics and his policies on almost every issue stand in direct contrast to my vision for Maryland,” he said. “It is not enough for Larry Hogan to symbolically oppose Donald Trump. Standing up to Donald Trump means standing up not just to his outrageous words and actions, but standing up to his outrageous policies and the agents who implement them.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Jealous said he would defy the expectations by getting Democrats to vote in November. In Maryland, Democratic voters outnumber Republicans 2 to 1. Jealous said he wouldn’t only focus on traditional Democratic voters—but also those voters who don’t traditionally come out the polls.

“We’re going to focus on the core kitchen table issues that are affecting all of our families, and we’re going to move voters to the polls,” he said. “We know [Hogan] is only in office because we had the lowest Democratic turnout since 1942. This will not happen this year, this will not happen on my watch.”

Jealous’ running mate is Susie Turnbull, a Bethesda resident and community activist with deep ties to progressive causes.

“What [Jealous] is going to have to do is break up the Hogan coalition,” said Kromer. “They need to make sure that those Democrats that broke for Hogan in 2014 don’t do it again. You’ll see a full-fledged effort to bring these Democratic voters back home to the Democratic Party.”

This story originally appeared on WAMU.