Boafo wins Maryland primary boosted by big pro-Israel, crypto spending

Adrian Boafo won the Democratic primary in Maryland’s 5th Congressional District on June 23, powered by a flood of outside spending that turned a local succession battle into a national proxy fight. The 32-year-old state delegate is poised to succeed retiring Rep. Steny Hoyer in a heavily Democratic district anchored in Prince George’s County and southern Maryland.

Hoyer announced in January that he would not seek reelection after 45 years in the House and backed Boafo within days. Gov. Wes Moore and Sen. Angela Alsobrooks also lined up behind Boafo, while Sen. Chris Van Hollen declined to endorse anyone and called the money pouring into the contest an “obscene amount” of special-interest spending.

Boafo entered the race with deep ties to Hoyer’s political operation. He had worked as a Hoyer staffer and campaign manager before winning election to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2022 and serving on the Bowie City Council. The open seat drew a crowded field of 23 to 24 Democrats.

By June 16, a Roll Call tally put Boafo at $8.8 million in outside spending, including $4.9 million from Protect Progress, a crypto-backed super PAC, and $2.9 million from United Democracy Project, the political arm aligned with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Hoyer’s leadership PAC, Ameripac: The Fund for a Greater America, spent about $500,000 to support Boafo, and Project 218 added another $250,000.

A Roll Call tally put United Democracy Project alone at nearly $1.2 million in early June, including a direct-mail push and a later television ad buy worth more than $1 million. Boafo’s opponents called on Hoyer, Moore, Alsobrooks and other Boafo backers to reject the spending.

Boafo campaigned on standing up to Donald Trump’s attacks on Maryland families and on issues including immigration enforcement, the minimum wage and utility costs. His agenda includes raising the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour, cutting taxes for working- and middle-class families, banning congressional stock trading, and advancing the Equality Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

The district backed Kamala Harris by 33 points in 2024, making Boafo the favorite heading into the November 3 general election.