2012 United States Senate election in Maryland

The 2012 United States Senate election in Maryland took place on November 6, 2012, concurrently with the 2012 U.S. presidential election as well as other elections to the United States Senate, House of Representatives, and various state and local elections. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Cardin won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican nominee Dan Bongino and independent Rob Sobhani.

Declared

 * Raymond Blagmon
 * Ben Cardin, incumbent U.S. Senator
 * J.P. Cusick
 * Christopher Garner, engineer and businessman
 * Ralph Jaffe, former political science teacher
 * C. Anthony Muse, State Senator
 * Blaine Taylor
 * Ed Tinus
 * Lih Young, perennial candidate

Declared

 * Joseph Alexander
 * Dan Bongino, former United States Secret Service agent
 * Bro Broadus
 * William Capps
 * Richard Douglas, attorney and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
 * Rick Hoover
 * David Jones
 * John B. Kimble, behavioral scientist and perennial candidate
 * Brian Vaeth, retired firefighter
 * Corrogan R. Vaughn, perennial candidate

Declined

 * Bob Ehrlich, former Governor of Maryland
 * Brian Murphy, candidate for Governor in 2010
 * Eric Wargotz, nominee for the U.S. Senate in 2010

Candidates

 * Ben Cardin (Democratic), incumbent U.S. Senator and former U.S. Representative
 * Daniel Bongino (Republican), former United States Secret Service agent
 * Dean Ahmad (Libertarian), president of the Minaret of Freedom Institute
 * S. Rob Sobhani (independent), Chairman and CEO of Caspian Group Holdings
 * Brandy Baker (Socialist, certified write-in)

Debates
A candidate's forum was held on Baltimore's WOLB radio on October 24 including Senator Ben Cardin, Rob Sobhani, Dean Ahmad and Daniel Bongino. An October 30 debate at Salisbury University to have featured those candidates and independent Ed Tinus was cancelled in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

Campaign
In 2006, then-U.S. Representative Ben Cardin defeated then-Lieutenant Governor Michael Steele 54%–44%. Eric Wargotz, the Republican nominee in 2010 had considered entering the race but ultimately did not.

In both 2009 and 2010, National Journal magazine rated Cardin as tied for most liberal senator, based on his voting record. As of June 30, Cardin had $1.8 million in his campaign account.

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

 * Anne Arundel (largest municipality: Annapolis)
 * Calvert (largest municipality: Chesapeake Beach)
 * Dorchester (largest municipality: Cambridge)
 * Somerset (largest municipality: Princess Anne)
 * Wicomico (largest municipality: Salisbury)