District 39 Sen. Nancy King concedes to challenger in Democratic primary
Amar Mukunda would be first state senator of South Asian descent, campaign says
By
Ceoli JacobyJune 26, 2026 6:05 p.m.
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Sen. Nancy King, a 77-year-old Montgomery Village resident who has represented Upcounty District 39 in the Maryland General Assembly for more than two decades, on Friday announced her time in the state legislature has come to an end.
In a phone interview Friday afternoon, King told Bethesda Today she called Amar Mukunda, 33, of Germantown that morning to concede in the Democratic primary election.
As of Friday, unofficial results from the State Board of Elections showed Mukunda had 48.6% of the Democratic vote to King’s 36.1%. Destiny Drake West, also of Germantown, was third with 15.2% of the vote.
In a Friday statement from his campaign, Mukunda said he had won the Democratic nomination for state Senate in District 39 “following a grassroots campaign that brought together thousands of residents around the belief that it is time for bold and decisive change in Maryland.”
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“Senator King has been a dedicated public servant. She cares deeply about our community and especially our schools and our young people,” Mukunda said in the statement. “I am hopeful that I can learn from her experience and relationships to deliver for the community we both love.”
Mukunda, the son of Indian and Pakistani immigrants, would be the first South Asian state senator in Maryland’s history, according to his campaign.
There have been multiple state delegates of South Asian descent, including District 16 Del. Sarah Wolek of Bethesda and Kumar Barve of Rockville, who represented District 17 from 1991 to 2023 and now chairs the Maryland Public Service Commission.
Mukunda — a combat engineer in the U.S. Army Reserve who was seeking public office for the first time — originally filed in September as a Democratic candidate for a District 39 seat in the House of Delegates. In November, he dropped out of that race and filed instead as a candidate for state Senate in what was widely believed to be a long-shot bid to oust King.
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At the time, Mukunda told Bethesda Today he decided to shift because he was “really frustrated with the leadership in the Maryland Senate,” citing controversy over immigration policy and a possible mid-decade redistricting of the state’s congressional seats. He said he believed it was “time for a different approach.”
Mukunda’s Senate candidacy received a boost when the Maryland chapters of two major environmental organizations, the Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters, endorsed him this spring in the wake of differences with King over transportation policy. King was an advocate of the proposed widening of the Capital Beltway and I-270.
King was first elected to the Maryland General Assembly in 2002 and shares the title of the longest-serving state legislator from Montgomery County. After five years in the House of Delegates, King moved to the Senate in 2007 and won re-election to that chamber four times.
The demographic makeup of District 39 has changed significantly since King first won election there. In 2005, U.S. Census data indicated that the Germantown area was more than 55% white. By 2022, a majority of Germantown-area residents were members of a minority group and more than one-third were foreign-born.
In a statement posted to social media on Friday, King thanked her supporters and pledged to maintain a presence in Montgomery County and Maryland.
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“While my job title will change in January, my commitment to serving our community and state will not,” King said in the statement. “I remain steadfast in my dedication to strengthening our communities and helping build a state where every person has the opportunity to thrive, and where kindness, respect and civility are the values that move us forward together.”
In his statement Friday, Mukunda said his victory demonstrates that “what people want does not fit neatly into one ideological box.”
“We have a clear mandate to end corporate influence in politics, enact universal healthcare and extend the [Metro] Red Line to Germantown,” he said. “At the same time, we have an equally clear mandate to create high-paying jobs, cut spending waste and inefficiencies in government permitting, and make home and small business ownership more accessible.”
There is no Republican candidate in the District 39 race, meaning Mukunda is virtually assured to win the Nov. 3 general election. Newly elected delegates and senators will be officially sworn on opening day of the Maryland General Assembly session in January.
Louis Peck contributed to this report. He can be reached at lou.peck@bethesdamagazine.com.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine