CQPolitics

The 8th contains wealthy Montgomery County suburbs northwest of Washington, D.C., such as Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac, as well as less-affluent suburbs in eastern Montgomery and western Prince George’s counties. It also includes the Interstate 270 technology corridor, a hotbed for high-technology and biotechnology companies that runs through Rockville and Gaithersburg. In the western part of the district, officials struggle to preserve an agricultural heritage.

Government dominates the 8th, where federal agencies, such as the National Institutes of Health, abound and where federal employees who work in Washington reside. County and state government also provide jobs in Rockville, the Montgomery County seat. The large contingent of highly educated professionals supports a thriving economy that is bolstered by a wide array of big-name business interests, including Lockheed Martin and Marriott.

The district has a strong Democratic lean, helped by liberal Takoma Park and heavily black and Hispanic neighborhoods in western Prince George’s County. The 8th has the highest percentage of Asians (11 percent) and Hispanics (14 percent) of any Maryland district, and the support voters here gave Democratic Senate candidate Benjamin L. Cardin in 2006 — 70 percent of the vote — was the second-highest in the state, behind only one of Maryland’s two black-majority districts.

Major Industry

Government, technology, service, retail

Military Bases

National Naval Medical Center, 2,672 military, 1,868 civilian; National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, 45 military, 1,455 civilian; Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, 3 military, 1,340 civilian (2007)

Cities

Wheaton-Glenmont (unincorporated), 57,694; Bethesda (unincorporated), 55,277; Gaithersburg, 52,613; Rockville, 47,388

Notable

Glen Echo Park has a working Dentzel Carousel — in the menagerie style with handcrafted horses, rabbits and other animals — that turns to the music of an original Wurlitzer band organ, one of only 11 that still exist.