State Senator, Legislative District 17
State Senate District 17; Maryland
My vote power
High
Election date
November 3, 2026 · General election
How do we calculate my vote power?
What goes into the rating: Representation: how much weight one vote carries here compared with a statewide vote — the smaller the district, the more each vote counts. Decisiveness: how likely this race is to be close, based on past results or current analyst ratings, plus the number of candidates.
Representation: High · 67 out of 100
This district is a small slice of its state, so each vote here carries much more weight than a vote in a statewide race. About 135,976 people live here.
Show the representation math
score = 50 + 50 × ln(state population ÷ this district's) ÷ ln(50,000) = 50 + 50 × ln(6,206,011 ÷ 135,976) ÷ ln(50,000) = 67.66, measured against a statewide vote in MD (grades: 66+ high, 33+ normal, otherwise low; a statewide race is the 50 baseline)
Decisiveness: Unknown
No analyst ratings or past results for this contest yet.
High representation → My vote power: High.
Some data is missing, so this rating is based on partial information and capped at "High".
About this office
- Voting on how much you pay in state taxes
- Voting on how much money your local public schools get
- Voting on which roads and highways get built or repaired
Affects: AI Regulation, Healthcare Affordability, Environment and Public Health,
Candidates
Democratic · Incumbent · declared
Cheryl C. Kagan is the Democratic Maryland state senator for District 17, serving since 2015; she previously served in the House of Delegates and works on elections, education, energy, and the environment.
Records: Environment and Public Health 18 for, Civil Rights 16 for, Corporate Accountability 10 for, 1 against,
Republican · declared
Helene Meister is an attorney and former Montgomery County Commission for Women commissioner with experience in tax, public finance, investigations, and nonprofit advocacy.
Sources: elections.state.md.us2 · elections.maryland.gov