Wicomico County Council, District 6
Wicomico County · 2026-11-03
District 6 is a straight two-way race. Sarah Ashley (D) and Michael "Hooch" Houck (R) each ran unopposed in the June 23 primary, so neither has yet faced a contested election for this seat.
No incumbent is defending it, and that is not unusual this year: five of the seven council seats have no incumbent on the ballot. Of the current members only Shanie Shields and James Winn are running for council again.
District 6 is one of seven single-member districts on the county's new council map. Check which district you live in before you vote — the map changed, and it may not be the one you voted in last time.
What this office does
The County Council is Wicomico County's legislative body. It passes local bills and resolutions, approves the county budget submitted by the County Executive, confirms appointments, and provides oversight of county departments. Members serve four-year terms.
Recent council business gives a sense of the work: emergency legislation creating oversight of the county nursing home, the annual budget and its tax rate, land-use and annexation questions, and the county's mobile home park tax.
Candidates
Listed alphabetically by surname. Each summary is written only from the official record and the candidate's own campaign material — never from what anyone else says about them. Other coverage is listed under each candidate and labelled by what kind of source it is.
Sarah Ashley
Democratic
Ashley won the Democratic nomination unopposed, with 561 votes.
She is 28, is from Hebron and lives in Salisbury.
Answering the Salisbury Daily Times in September, she backed community solar on underused public land as a way to hold down power costs.
She opposes AI data centres, arguing they would push household power bills up, while leaving open a narrower case — something like healthcare infrastructure — if it met conditions on sustainability and sharing costs. On the county's greatest need she described a broad cost-of-living problem, naming housing and food insecurity, and called for stronger public spaces, schools, access to healthcare, and a government that responds.
She did not complete the Baltimore Sun and Capital Gazette's pre-primary questionnaire.
Michael "Hooch" Houck
Republican
Houck won the Republican nomination unopposed, with 1,275 votes.
He spent more than 25 years in law enforcement, retiring as a deputy with the Wicomico County Sheriff's Office, with service in community policing, investigations, narcotics, and on the S.E.R.T. and M.E.A.N. teams. He served as an Army Airborne infantryman, has been a volunteer firefighter, and has owned Mike Houck Construction for more than 30 years.
His campaign site leads on supporting law enforcement and first responders, and on responsible funding and allocation of county resources. He also names government transparency and accountability, a county government that helps small businesses rather than obstructing them, and strong schools, safe neighbourhoods and an economy that supports working families.
He completed neither questionnaire put to candidates this cycle — the Baltimore Sun and Capital Gazette's before the primary, and the Salisbury Daily Times' in September, which named him among those who did not take part. The material above is from his own campaign site.
Sources for this race
Official record
2026 Gubernatorial General Election — local candidates, all counties
Wicomico County Board of Elections
News reporting
Wicomico County to drop at-large elections after ACLU lawsuit
Wicomico County Council primary wrap-up
Wicomico County Council candidates in their own words (Delmarva Now — subscription required)