Maryland's 8th congressional district

Maryland's 8th congressional district stretches from the northern Washington, D.C. suburbs north towards the Pennsylvania border. The district is currently represented by Democrat Chris Van Hollen.

History

The district was created after the 1790 census in time for the 1792 election, was abolished after the 1830 census, and was reinstated after the 1960 census. During Carlton R. Sickles's tenure, the district was at-large and covered the entire state.

During redistricting after the 2000 census, the Democratic-dominated Maryland legislature sought to unseat then-incumbent Republican Connie Morella. One proposal went so far as to divide the district in two, effectively giving one to state Senator Christopher Van Hollen, Jr. and forcing then-incumbent Connie Morella to run against popular Maryland State Delegate and Kennedy political family member Mark Kennedy Shriver. The final redistricting plan was less ambitious, restoring an eastern, heavily Democratic spur of Montgomery County removed in the 1990 redistricting to the 8th District, as well as adding an adjacent portion from heavily Democratic Prince George's County located in Maryland's 5th congressional district. Although it forced Van Hollen and Shriver to run against each other in an expensive primary, the shift pushed the district into the Democratic column, and Van Hollen defeated Morella in 2002.

Maryland Route 8

Maryland Route 8 (MD 8) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Maryland. Known for most of its length as Romancoke Road, the state highway runs 8.37 miles (13.47 km) from Romancoke Pier in Romancoke north to MD 18 in Stevensville. MD 8 is the main north–south highway of Kent Island in western Queen Anne's County. The state highway is also the first highway encountered on U.S. Route 50 and US 301 east of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. South of Matapeake, Route 8 is paralleled by the Kent Island South Trail.

The section of MD 8 from Stevensville to Matapeake was constructed in 1930 to serve the Annapolis–Matapeake ferry service of the Claiborne-Annapolis Ferry Company. The highway between Matapeake and Romancoke was constructed in 1938 to serve that company's Romancoke–Claiborne ferry. The Stevensville–Matapeake road was originally designated MD 404 and was briefly part of US 50 in the early 1950s. The Matapeake–Romancoke highway was briefly MD 17 before becoming MD 33. After the Chesapeake Bay Bridge opened in 1952, the MD 33 designation was extended north to Stevensville. MD 8 replaced MD 33 on Kent Island in 1960.