Chris Chaffee

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Chris Chaffee

Republican Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

May 14, 2024

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Chris Chaffee (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. Senate to represent Maryland. He lost in the Republican primary on May 14, 2024.

Biography

Chris Chaffee studied at PG Community College and the University of Maryland. His professional experience includes working as a general contractor and farmer.

Elections

2024

See also: United States Senate election in Maryland, 2024

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Maryland

Angela Alsobrooks, Larry Hogan, and Mike Scott are running in the general election for U.S. Senate Maryland on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate
		Angela Alsobrooks (D)
		Larry Hogan (R)
		Mike Scott (L)

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	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Moshe Landman (G)
• Nancy Wallace (G)
• Shaunesi Deberry (Independent)
• Emmanuel Osuchukwu (Independent)
• Keith Packer (No Party Affiliation)
• Michael Sigmon (Progressive Party)

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maryland

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maryland on May 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Angela Alsobrooks	53.4	357,052
		David Trone	42.8	286,381
		Joseph Perez	0.7	4,688
		Michael Cobb Sr.	0.7	4,524
		Brian Frydenborg	0.5	3,635
		Scottie Griffin	0.5	3,579
		Marcellus Crews	0.5	3,379
		Andrew Wildman	0.3	2,198
		Robert Houton	0.3	1,946
		Steven Seuferer	0.2	1,664

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 669,046
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Juan Dominguez (D)
• William Jawando (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Maryland

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Maryland on May 14, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Larry Hogan	64.2	183,661
		Robin Ficker	27.8	79,517
		Chris Chaffee	3.2	9,134
		Lorie Friend	2.1	5,867
		John Myrick	1.7	4,987
		Moe Barakat	0.8	2,203
		Laban Seyoum	0.3	782

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 286,151
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Ray Bly (R)
• John Thormann (R)
• John Teichert (R)
• Christopher Puleo (R)

Endorsements

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2022

See also: United States Senate election in Maryland, 2022

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Maryland

Incumbent Chris Van Hollen defeated Chris Chaffee, Scottie Griffin, and Andrew Wildman in the general election for U.S. Senate Maryland on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Van Hollen (D)	65.8	1,316,897
		Chris Chaffee (R)	34.1	682,293
		Scottie Griffin (D) (Write-in)	0.0	334
		Andrew Wildman (Independent) (Write-in)	0.0	89
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	2,723

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,002,336
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maryland

Incumbent Chris Van Hollen defeated Michelle Smith in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maryland on July 19, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Van Hollen	80.8	535,014
		Michelle Smith	19.2	127,089

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 662,103
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Jaden Thomas Farris (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Maryland

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Maryland on July 19, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chris Chaffee	20.8	50,514
		Lorie Friend	14.7	35,714
		John Thormann	13.7	33,290
		Joseph Perez	10.8	26,359
		George Davis	8.7	21,095
		James Tarantin	8.4	20,514
		Reba Hawkins	7.4	18,057
		Jon McGreevey	5.8	14,128
		Todd Puglisi	5.6	13,550
		Nnabu Eze	4.1	9,917

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 243,138
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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2018

See also: United States Senate election in Maryland, 2018

General election

General election for U.S. Senate Maryland

Incumbent Ben Cardin defeated Tony Campbell, Neal Simon, and Arvin Vohra in the general election for U.S. Senate Maryland on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Cardin (D)	64.9	1,491,614
		Tony Campbell (R)	30.3	697,017
		Neal Simon (Independent)	3.7	85,964
		Arvin Vohra (L)	1.0	22,943
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	2,351

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,299,889 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maryland

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Maryland on June 26, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ben Cardin	80.3	477,441
		Chelsea Manning	5.8	34,611
		Jerry Segal	3.4	20,027
		Debbie Wilson	3.2	18,953
		Marcia Morgan	2.7	16,047
		Lih Young	1.7	9,874
		Richard Vaughn	1.6	9,480
		Erik Jetmir	1.4	8,259

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	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 594,692
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Mia Mason (D)

Republican primary election

Republican primary for U.S. Senate Maryland

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Maryland on June 26, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Tony Campbell	29.2	51,426
		Chris Chaffee	24.1	42,328
		Christina Grigorian	17.5	30,756
		John Graziani	8.8	15,435
		Blaine Taylor	5.0	8,848
		Gerald Smith	4.3	7,564
		Brian Vaeth	3.1	5,411
		Evan Cronhardt	2.5	4,445
		Bill Krehnbrink	2.0	3,606
		Nnabu Eze	2.0	3,442
		Albert Howard	1.5	2,720

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified.	Total votes: 175,981
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Sam Faddis (R)
• David Pae (R)

2016

See also: United States Senate election in Maryland, 2016

Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated Maryland's U.S. Senate race as safely Democratic. In the U.S. Senate race in Maryland, incumbent Barbara Mikulski chose to retire, leaving the seat open in 2016. The election attracted a large number of Democratic, Republican and independent candidates. Chris Van Hollen (D) defeated Kathy Szeliga (R), Arvin Vohra (Libertarian), Margaret Flowers (Green), and several write-in candidates in the general election on November 8, 2016. Van Hollen defeated nine other Democrats to win the nomination, and Szeliga defeated 13 other Republicans in the primary. The primary elections took place on April 26, 2016.

U.S. Senate, Maryland General Election, 2016

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Chris Van Hollen	60.9%	1,659,907
	Republican	Kathy Szeliga	35.7%	972,557
	Green	Margaret Flowers	3.3%	89,970
	N/A	Write-in	0.1%	3,736
Total Votes				2,726,170
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections

U.S. Senate, Maryland Democratic Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Chris Van Hollen	53.2%	470,320
Donna Edwards	38.9%	343,620
Freddie Dickson	1.7%	14,856
Theresa Scaldaferri	1.5%	13,178
Violet Staley	1.2%	10,244
Lih Young	1%	8,561
Charles Smith	0.9%	7,912
Ralph Jaffe	0.8%	7,161
Blaine Taylor	0.7%	5,932
Ed Tinus	0.3%	2,560
Total Votes		884,344
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections

U.S. Senate, Maryland Republican Primary, 2016

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Kathy Szeliga	35.6%	135,337
Chris Chaffee	13.7%	52,066
Chrys Kefalas	9.6%	36,340
Richard Douglas	7.6%	29,007
Dave Wallace	6.1%	23,226
Sean Connor	5.7%	21,727
Lynn Richardson	5.5%	20,792
John Graziani	4.4%	16,722
Greg Holmes	4.3%	16,148
Mark McNicholas	2.6%	9,988
Joseph Hooe	2.2%	8,282
Anthony Seda	1%	3,873
Richard Shawver	0.8%	3,155
Garry Yarrington	0.8%	2,988
Total Votes		379,651
Source: Maryland State Board of Elections

2014

See also: Maryland's 5th Congressional District elections, 2014

Chaffee ran in the 2014 election for the U.S. House to represent Maryland's 5th District. He won the nomination in the Republican primary on June 24, 2014. Chris Chaffee lost the general election on November 4, 2014.

U.S. House, Maryland District 5 General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Steny Hoyer Incumbent	64%	144,725
	Republican	Chris Chaffee	35.7%	80,752
	Write-in	Others	0.2%	563
Total Votes				226,040
Source: Maryland Secretary of State Official Results

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Chris Chaffee did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Interview with The Baltimore Sun

Chaffee highlighted the following themes in an interview with The Baltimore Sun on March 5, 2024. The questions from The Baltimore Sun are bolded and Chaffee's responses follow below.

“

Why are you running for office? To give Maryland a Republican voice Do you believe, as President Joe Biden has said, that “democracy is on the ballot” and, if so, in what way? No Will you accept the presidential election result once the totals have been certified by the states and any legal challenges adjudicated? Yes Do you support additional assistance for Ukraine’s military forces two years into Russia’s invasion? No we must push for peace talks and diplomacy Should the United States be speaking out more clearly, as Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen has suggested, about civilian casualties in Gaza? We must free all hostages and return them to their families. Should Congress act to protect abortion rights following the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision? No Should the Senate repeal or modify the filibuster rule under which 41 or more senators can block legislation? No Should the Maryland congressional delegation try to revive federal funding for the Red Line transit project? Yes

”

2022

Chris Chaffee did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2016

The following issues were listed on Chaffee's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.

“	Gun Control: We must protect our Second Amendment. The Constitution gives all Americans have the right to bear arms, and protect themselves from foreign and domestic enemies under the Second Amendment. It is our law and our right. Rights of Veterans: I know the importance of celebrating and assisting our Veterans. I am committed to making sure they have all the tools and resources needed to obtain jobs and medical care. These men and women are not just soldiers, they are the reason we can enjoy the freedoms granted to us as Americans, and we should treat them as such. Federal Spending: We need to cut federal spending before the U.S. Dollar is worthless around the globe. Federal spending is only putting Americans further in debt due to tax hikes in order to cover the governments outrageous spending and the misappropriation of our tax dollars. Nobody likes cuts but we must start by cutting 2.5 percent from Discretionary and 2.5 percent Mandatory across the board .and reduce Federal interest that we pay out. Small Business: Government regulations and taxes are making it impossible for small businesses to thrive in Maryland. They make the cost of running a small business so high that the business is unable to sustain itself and ends up closing down. I will push for less taxes and regulation for small businesses in order to save the businesses you and I have relied on and patronized for years. Jobs: We need to create jobs in all fields across the board in the United States. We need to manufacture in the United States and stop shipping our jobs overseas. We need to make the business environment friendly for small businesses so they have the ability to add jobs and increase their revenue.	”
—Chris Chaffee's campaign website, http://www.chrischaffeeforussenate.com/issues

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Chris Chaffee campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	U.S. Senate Maryland	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
2022	U.S. Senate Maryland	Lost general	$0	N/A**
2018	U.S. Senate Maryland	Lost primary	$0	N/A**
Grand total			$0	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only availabale data.

See also

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Footnotes

[show]

Maryland's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators

Ben Cardin (D)

Chris Hollen (D)

Representatives

District 1

Andrew Harris (R)

District 2

Dutch Ruppersberger (D)

District 3

John Sarbanes (D)

District 4

Glenn Ivey (D)

District 5

Steny Hoyer (D)

District 6

David Trone (D)

District 7

Kweisi Mfume (D)

District 8

Jamie Raskin (D)

Democratic Party (9)

Republican Party (1)