The Maryland gubernatorial election of 1966 was held on November 8 and was notable for several reasons:

1. This was the second-to-last time that a Republican Party
   Republican Party (United States)
   The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
   
    candidate was elected Governor of Maryland
   Governor of Maryland
   The Governor of Maryland heads the executive branch of the government of Maryland, and he is the commander-in-chief of the state's National Guard units. The Governor is the highest-ranking official in the state, and he has a broad range of appointive powers in both the State and local governments,...
   
   .
2. Spiro Agnew
   Spiro Agnew
   Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
   
   's victory was the beginning of one of the quickest political rises in United States
   United States
   The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
   
    history - six years from County Executive to the Vice President of the United States
   Vice President of the United States
   The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
   
   . His governorship bring him to the national attention and prominence, without this he probably would not have been a candidate for national office.

Democratic Party nomination

Maryland was and still is a state with a long history of Democratic Party political domination. Although Maryland is often counted as a southern state, it is also regarded as rather liberal, than a former confederate (while Maryland remained in the Union) Deep South

Deep South

The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...

, now a Republican stronghold.

Incumbent

Incumbent

The incumbent, in politics, is the existing holder of a political office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent. For example, in the 2004 United States presidential election, George W...

 Democratic Governor J. Millard Tawes

J. Millard Tawes

John Millard Tawes , a member of the United States Democratic Party, was the 54th Governor of Maryland in the United States from 1959 to 1967. He remains the only Marylander to be elected to the three positions of State Treasurer, Comptroller, and Governor.-Early life and family:Tawes was born to...

 was term-limited, which left the Democratic primary race open.

Candidates:

• 1962 gubernatorial candidate Morgan L. Amaimo
• State Attorney General Thomas B. Finan
• 1962 gubernatorial candidate Charles J. Luthardt, Sr.
• Former member of the Democratic National Committee
  Democratic National Committee
  The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
  
   and frequent candidare George P. Mahoney
  George P. Mahoney
  George Perry Mahoney - was an Irish American Catholic politician from the state of Maryland, mostly famous as the Democratic Party nominee for Governor in 1966 by his campaign slogan, "Your Home Is Your Castle; Protect It".He was born in Baltimore as son of William D. Mahoney and Matilda "Cook"...
  
  
• Clarence W. Miles
• Frequent candidate Ross Zimmerman Pierpont
• Representative Carlton R. Sickles
  Carlton R. Sickles
  Carlton Ralph Sickles was an American lawyer and a Congressman from .Sickles was born in Hamden, Connecticut. After graduating from Georgetown in 1943, Sickles entered the U.S. Army and served until the end of World War II. He returned home to study law and was admitted to the bar in 1948...
  
  

Carlton R. Sickles was early viewed as a favorite to win both nomination and the general election. However multiple presence of candidates caused narrow victory of Mahoney, who was a staunch segregationist and supporter of George Wallace

George Wallace

George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...

. Thus outraged many Maryland's democrats from supporting him.

Republican Party nomination

Because of heavy Democratic domination in the state, no Republican Party

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 candidate sought nomination except Baltimore County Executive

Baltimore County Executive

The Baltimore County Executive is the highest elected official representing the government of Baltimore County, Maryland. The post was established with the implementation of the Home Rule Charter for Baltimore County on December 6, 1956...

 Spiro Agnew

Spiro Agnew

Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...

, who became a candidate without an opposition.

Other candidates

Democratic Baltimore City Comptroller Hyman A. Pressman

Hyman A. Pressman

Hyman A. Pressman served as the Comptroller of Baltimore City, Maryland, from 1963 - 1991. He ran for Governor of Maryland in 1966 as an Independent after the Democratic Party nominated conservative Democrat George P...

 ran as independent, opposing Mahoney.

General election

Agnew ran on his executive record as a moderate and pro-integration Republican reformer. This caused many Democrats, despite party affiliation, to support him rather than segregationist Mahoney, who in 1968 ran for the U.S. Senate as an independent, Wallace-backed candidate.

Also the Pressman candidacy may have helped Agnew with split Democratic votes.

• Spiro Agnew
  Spiro Agnew
  Spiro Theodore Agnew was the 39th Vice President of the United States , serving under President Richard Nixon, and the 55th Governor of Maryland...
  
   (R) - 455,318 (49.50%)
• George P. Mahoney
  George P. Mahoney
  George Perry Mahoney - was an Irish American Catholic politician from the state of Maryland, mostly famous as the Democratic Party nominee for Governor in 1966 by his campaign slogan, "Your Home Is Your Castle; Protect It".He was born in Baltimore as son of William D. Mahoney and Matilda "Cook"...
  
   (D) - 373,543 (40.61%)
• Hyman A. Pressman
  Hyman A. Pressman
  Hyman A. Pressman served as the Comptroller of Baltimore City, Maryland, from 1963 - 1991. He ran for Governor of Maryland in 1966 as an Independent after the Democratic Party nominated conservative Democrat George P...
  
  (I) - 90,899 (9.88%)