Editing St. Mary's County, Maryland (section)

==Politics and government==
[[Image:St Marys County Courthouse Jul 09.JPG|thumb|200px|St. Mary's County Courthouse, July 2009]]

In presidential elections, St. Mary's County leans strongly toward the Republican Party. No Democrat has won the county since [[Jimmy Carter]] did so in 1976. In 2020, [[Donald Trump]] received the lowest percentage for a Republican candidate since [[Bob Dole]] in 1996.

{| 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|Republican Party (United States)}}
| [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| align = center | {{formatnum: 31918}}
| align = center | {{Percentage |31918 |75,966 |2}}
|-
| {{party color cell|Democratic Party (United States)}}
| [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
| align = center | {{formatnum: 24800}}
| align = center | {{Percentage |24800 |75,966 |2}}
|-
| {{party color cell|Independent Party (United States)}}
| Unaffiliated
| align = center | {{formatnum: 17906}}
| align = center | {{Percentage |17906 |75,966 |2}}
|-
| {{party color cell|Libertarian Party (United States)}}
| [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian]]
| align = center | {{formatnum: 490}}
| align = center | {{Percentage |490 |75,966 |2}}
|-
| {{party color cell|None}}
| [[Third party (U.S. politics)|Other parties]]
| align = center | {{formatnum: 852}}
| align = center | {{Percentage |852 |75,966 |2}}
|-
! colspan = 2 | Total
! align = center | {{formatnum: 75,966}}
! align = center | {{Percentage |100}}
|}

{{PresHead|place=St. Mary's County, Maryland|whig=yes|source=<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 12, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP/Whig vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|33,582|23,531|1,841|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|30,826|23,138|1,701|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|28,663|17,534|3,645|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|26,797|19,711|1,316|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|24,705|19,023|681|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|23,725|13,776|415|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|16,856|11,912|733|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|11,835|9,988|1,985|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|11,485|8,931|4,669|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|12,767|7,434|89|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|11,201|6,420|49|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|8,267|6,773|1,016|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|5,640|7,227|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|7,689|3,571|122|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|3,348|3,280|2,547|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|2,878|5,831|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|3,080|5,752|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|4,336|3,443|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|4,270|3,588|33|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|2,247|2,293|66|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1944|Republican|2,673|1,891|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|2,301|2,860|44|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|2,286|2,829|124|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|1,322|2,885|93|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|1,609|3,006|118|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|1,653|1,949|101|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|2,175|1,861|58|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|1,064|1,443|104|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1912|Republican|1,262|843|231|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|1,333|1,011|103|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1904|Democratic|1,174|1,247|25|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|2,089|1,584|23|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|2,044|1,471|36|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1892|Republican|1,693|1,482|45|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1888|Republican|1,772|1,551|34|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1884|Republican|1,773|1,540|23|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1880|Republican|1,772|1,530|2|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1876|Republican|1,540|1,502|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1872|Republican|1,536|1,139|19|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1868|Democratic|39|1,182|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1864|Democratic|99|986|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1860|Southern Democratic|1|190|1,181|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1856|Democratic|0|1,052|247|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1852|Whig|681|440|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1848|Whig|788|422|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1844|Whig|783|468|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1840|Whig|895|415|0|Maryland}}
{{PresRow|1836|Whig|643|190|0|Maryland}}
|}

St. Mary's County is governed by county commissioners, the traditional form of county government in Maryland.

===Board of commissioners===
{| 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|Republican Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
| President
| James R. Guy
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| style="text-align:center;" | At-Large
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner
| Eric Colvin
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| style="text-align:center;" | District 1
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner
| Michael L. Hewitt
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| style="text-align:center;" | District 2
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner
| Mike Alderson Jr.
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| style="text-align:center;" | District 3
|-
| style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" |&nbsp;
| Commissioner
| Scott R. Ostrow
| style="text-align:center;" | [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
| style="text-align:center;" | District 4
|-
|}

===County executive===
The county commissioners exercise such executive powers as exist in the government of the county.

===Circuit court judges===
* '''Hon. Amy D. Lorenzini'''
* '''Hon. Michael J. Stamm''', administrative judge
* '''Hon. Joseph Stanalonis'''

===Law enforcement===
St. Mary's County has the oldest documented [[St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office|sheriff's office]] in Maryland and one of the oldest in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.firstsheriff.com/|title=St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office - St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office|website=www.firstsheriff.com}}</ref> In 1637, James Baldridge was appointed sheriff. Since 1776, sheriffs in St. Mary's County have been determined by election. Steven A. Hall is the current sheriff. He was sworn in on December 5, 2022.