Editing Charles County, Maryland (section)

==Politics and government==
Owing to the considerable voting power of its large number of [[freedmen]] following [[American Civil War|the Civil War]],<ref>Levine, Mark V.; ‘Standing Political Decisions and Critical Realignment: The Pattern of Maryland Politics, 1872-1948’; ''[[The Journal of Politics]]'', volume 38, no. 2 (May 1976), pp. 292-325</ref> and later its growth as a suburban area, Charles County was for a long time solidly [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]. The only [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] to carry Charles County until 1960 was [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in 1932, although [[Alf Landon]] and [[Wendell Willkie]] defeated Roosevelt in the next two elections by a combined margin of just 50 votes. Since the turn of the millennium, Charles County has become reliably Democratic, although not as overwhelmingly so as other parts of Maryland's [[Washington, D.C.]] suburbs.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.centermaryland.org/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=entry&id=944 | title=JOSH KURTZ: FORGET PRINCE GEORGE'S – CHECK OUT KING CHARLES FOR POLITICAL INTRIGUE | publisher=Center Maryland | date=June 2, 2014 | access-date=September 20, 2016}}</ref> Charles County is one of only two counties in the nation to have voted for [[Al Gore]] in 2000 after voting for [[Bob Dole]] in 1996, along with [[Orange County, Florida]].<ref>{{cite web|title = The 2016 Streak Breakers| date=October 6, 2016 |publisher = Sabato Crystal Ball|access-date = September 15, 2017|url = http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/the-2016-streak-breakers/}}</ref>

===Voter registration===
{| class=wikitable
! colspan = 6 | Voter registration and party enrollment as of March 2024<ref name="MDBOE">{{cite web |title=Maryland Board of Elections Voter Registration Activity Report March 2024 |url=https://elections.maryland.gov/pdf/vrar/2024_03.pdf |website=Maryland Board of Elections |access-date=April 9, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| {{party color cell|Democratic Party (United States)}}
| [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| align = center | {{formatnum: 74828}}
| align = center | {{Percentage |74828 |123,821 |2}}
|-
| {{party color cell|Independent Party (United States)}}
| Unaffiliated
| align = center | {{formatnum: 24372}}
| align = center | {{Percentage |24372 |123,821 |2}}
|-
| {{party color cell|Republican Party (United States)}}
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| align = center | {{formatnum: 22962}}
| align = center | {{Percentage |22962 |123,821 |2}}
|-
| {{party color cell|Libertarian Party (United States)}}
| [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian]]
| align = center | {{formatnum: 441}}
| align = center | {{Percentage |441 |123,821 |2}}
|-
| {{party color cell|None}}
| [[Third party (U.S. politics)|Other parties]]
| align = center | {{formatnum: 1218}}
| align = center | {{Percentage |1218 |123,821 |2}}
|-
! colspan = 2 | Total
! align = center | {{formatnum: 123,821}}
! align = center | {{Percentage |100}}
|}

{{PresHead|place=Charles County, Maryland|whig=no|open=yes|source1=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=June 11, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP/Whig vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|26,145|63,454|2,498|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|25,579|62,171|1,748|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|25,614|49,341|3,348|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|25,178|48,774|1,270|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|25,732|43,635|760|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|28,442|29,354|445|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|21,768|21,873|951|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|17,432|15,890|2,501|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|17,293|14,498|6,663|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|20,828|11,823|113|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|16,132|10,264|64|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|11,807|8,887|1,326|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|7,792|9,525|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|9,665|4,502|186|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|4,645|4,247|3,173|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|3,455|6,546|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|4,560|5,482|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|5,088|3,931|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|4,334|3,338|49|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1948|Republican|2,703|1,878|40|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|2,755|1,875|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1940|Republican|2,716|2,692|56|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1936|Republican|2,623|2,597|64|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|1,851|2,473|47|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|2,522|1,860|9|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|2,215|1,491|208|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|2,585|1,642|43|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|1,374|1,363|122|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1912|Republican|1,573|918|155|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|1,643|1,167|61|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|1,659|1,180|31|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|2,268|1,368|26|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|2,117|1,372|40|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1892|Republican|1,279|1,051|61|Maryland}}
|}

===Board of Commissioners===
Charles County is governed by county commissioners, the traditional form of county government in Maryland. There are five commissioners. {{As of|2022}}, they are:

{| class=wikitable
|-
! colspan=2 align=center valign=bottom | Position
! style="text-align:center;" | Name
! valign=bottom | Affiliation
! valign=bottom align=center | District
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
| President
| Reuben Collins
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| style="text-align:center;" | At-Large
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner
| Gilbert Bowling
| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic
| style="text-align:center;" | District 1
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner
| Thomasina Coates
| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic
| style="text-align:center;" | District 2
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner
| Amanda Stewart
| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic
| style="text-align:center;" | District 3
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner
| Ralph Patterson
| style="text-align:center;" | Democratic
| style="text-align:center;" | District 4
|-
|}

Charles County is entirely within the [[Maryland's 5th Congressional District|5th Congressional District]], which also includes Calvert, St. Mary's, and parts of Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties. The current representative is former Democratic House Majority Leader and former House Minority Whip [[Steny H. Hoyer]].