For years I lived in Maryland, adjacent to DC. I never met a conservative there. Nearly all were bureaucrats who had found a home in government and wanted it that way. Regarding the six conservatives in Maryland, I was being ironic. Sure there are some conservatives in Maryland. I hear there are a handful up in Cumberland and two or three out on the eastern shore.
When you lived in Maryland, didn’t you attend a church there? Are you saying that your church had no members who were conservative? Did you join the local republican party organization, or find the local chapter of the American Family Foundation or one of the good conservative groups like Club for Growth?
I can imagine you could walk down the street and not bump into someone you know is conservative. I was born in Maryland, and lived there on an off for much of my childhood, and I still know many good conservatives there. There are parts of the state that are quite conservative, such as portions of the eastern shore.
The republicans that get elected, a lot aren’t conservative because there are a lot more liberals than conservatives, and so you have liberal republicans.