The death of longtime U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D) in October left open a congressional seat that is anchored in Baltimore City and extends into adjacent Baltimore and Howard counties. Two dozen Democrats and eight Republicans are competing for their party’s nomination to succeed Cummings, an iconic figure known for his civil rights advocacy, his love of his struggling hometown, and his role as chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee as it held hearings into President Trump’s conduct in office and his real estate business.

The winners of Tuesday’s primaries will compete to serve the remaining months of Cummings’s term in a special election on April 28, with the Democrat overwhelmingly favored because of the district’s partisan lean. Also on April 28, many of the same candidates on the ballot Tuesday will again be vying for their party’s nomination, this time to face off in November for a full two-year term in Maryland’s 7th District.

The lead Democratic contenders are Cummings’s widow, Maya Rockeymoore Cummings, and Kweisi Mfume, the former NAACP chief who represented the 7th District before Cummings did and is trying to make a political comeback. Three sitting state lawmakers are also considered to be in the top tier of candidates: Sen. Jill P. Carter (D-Baltimore City), Del. Talmadge Branch (D-Baltimore City) and Del. Terri L. Hill (D-Howard).