# U.S. Representative in Congress, Maryland District 3
**In one sentence:** The winner serves a two-year term in the U.S. House, which makes and passes federal laws [1]; the ballot lets you vote for 1 candidate.

## The candidates

### Sarah Elfreth (Democratic)
- **Background:** The State Board of Elections lists her home county as Anne Arundel County [2]. Her House office says she graduated from Towson University and Johns Hopkins University. It also says she served on the University System of Maryland Board of Regents and worked as an advocate for the National Aquarium [3].
- **Top stated priorities:** Her House office lists these priorities: pay and bargaining rights for federal workers [5], lower child care costs and student-loan burdens [4], and protecting the Chesapeake Bay while moving toward clean energy [6]. Bargaining rights are a union's right to negotiate pay and working conditions.
- **Record or experience relevant to this office:** She is the current representative for this district [10]. She serves on the House Armed Services and Natural Resources committees [3]. Her office says she served six years in the Maryland Senate and passed 91 bipartisan bills there. That number is her office's own claim [3].

### Berney Flowers (Republican)
- **Background:** The State Board of Elections lists his home county as Howard County [2]. His campaign says he served nearly 21 years in the U.S. Air Force, was at the Pentagon on September 11, and was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. It also says he later worked as a project manager in banking [8].
- **Top stated priorities:** His campaign lists term limits, careful government spending, education reform, and rebuilding infrastructure [7]. In an October 21 interview, he called for independent audits, lower taxes, and stronger support for police [9].
- **Record or experience relevant to this office:** No elected-office record was found in the sources checked. His campaign says he helped launch U.S. Cyber Command and served as Senior Technical Advisor for NORAD and U.S. Northern Command at Fort Meade [8].

## Where they differ
- **ICE facility in Elkridge:** Capital News Service reported that Elfreth stressed the need for checks on federal immigration enforcement. Flowers said, "We should not really interfere with the federal government and what they're trying to do" [10].
- **ICE operations generally:** Elfreth joined other Maryland members of Congress in a letter asking for an investigation into ICE operations in Frederick [10]. Flowers' position on that letter: Not found in sources checked.
- **Federal spending:** Flowers said, "Audit everything," and argued that government takes "way too much money from the average person" [9]. Elfreth and other Maryland lawmakers asked the Trump administration to reverse cuts to medical research funding [11].
- **Term limits:** Flowers supports term limits [7]. Elfreth's position: Not found in sources checked.

## If you care most about...
- **Immigration enforcement** -> Elfreth stressed checks on ICE. Flowers said residents should not interfere with federal plans [10].
- **Taxes and government spending** -> Flowers calls for audits and lower taxes [9]. Elfreth opposed federal cuts to medical research [11].
- **Federal workers** -> Elfreth pledges to support the district's 44,000 federal employees [5]. Flowers: Not found in sources checked.
- **Military and national security** -> Elfreth serves on the Armed Services Committee and the Naval Academy Board of Visitors [3]. Flowers points to his Air Force and Defense Department career [8].

## What we could not verify
- Flowers' military and defense career and Elfreth's "91 bills" count come only from their own websites. We found no independent confirmation.
- Endorsements, fundraising, debate records, and Vote411 answers: Not found in sources checked. The Ballotpedia pages, the Baltimore Sun voter guide, and Elfreth's campaign site would not load.
- Flowers' positions on the environment, health care, and federal workers, and Elfreth's position on term limits: Not found in sources checked.
- The State Board of Elections also lists Robert L. Coffman as a Republican write-in candidate for this district [2].

## Confidence
Medium. The official candidate list and one independent news report confirm the basics, but most positions come from the candidates' own materials.

## Sources
[1] The House Explained - U.S. House of Representatives - https://www.house.gov/the-house-explained
[2] 2026 Gubernatorial General Election State Candidates List - Maryland State Board of Elections - https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2026/General_candidates/2026_GG_statewide_candidatelist.html
[3] About Sarah (candidate's House office) - Office of Rep. Sarah Elfreth - https://elfreth.house.gov/about
[4] Economy (candidate's House office) - Office of Rep. Sarah Elfreth - https://elfreth.house.gov/issues/economy
[5] Federal Workers (candidate's House office) - Office of Rep. Sarah Elfreth - https://elfreth.house.gov/issues/federal-workers
[6] Environment (candidate's House office) - Office of Rep. Sarah Elfreth - https://elfreth.house.gov/issues/environment
[7] Home (candidate's campaign) - Flowers for Maryland - https://flowersformaryland.com/
[8] About (candidate's campaign) - Flowers for Maryland - https://flowersformaryland.com/about-2/
[9] Berney Flowers Warns of Government Waste, Predicts Election Upset on Biz Talk Today TV (press release) - CrossCheck Media via PR Newswire - https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/berney-flowers-warns-of-government-waste-predicts-election-upset-on-biz-talk-today-tv-302915917.html
[10] Voters debate ICE facility amid this fall's campaigns - Capital News Service (CNS Maryland) - https://cnsmaryland.org/2026/10/08/voters-debate-ice-facility-amid-this-falls-campaigns/
[11] Health Care (candidate's House office) - Office of Rep. Sarah Elfreth - https://elfreth.house.gov/issues/health-care