State Roundup, September 15, 2010

OVERALL: Here’s the live election results as reported in the Sun. Go to the SELECT OFFICE button on the right for a pull down menu. The state elections board has mostly complete results, except for Baltimore and Prince George’s counties.

VOTER TURNOUT: The Post’s Michael Ruane reports on extremely low voter turnout seen by poll workers throughout the DC area — both in Maryland and DC. One campaign volunteer in Montgomery County describes turnout by saying, “I wouldn’t even call it a trickle — I’d call it a drip.”  Luke Broadwater of the Columbia Flier reports that about 21 percent of Howard County voters turned out for the primary.  Prince George’s County election workers call turnout “historically low,” reports The Gazette’s David Hill. Regardless, young and old made their voices heard in Prince George’s County, reported The Gazette’s Liz Skalski and David Hill. Eric Hartley of the Annapolis Capital blogs about the slow updates from the Board of Elections.

GOVERNOR: The stage is set for a rematch between Gov. Martin O’Malley and former Gov. Bob Ehrlich for governor, writes Julie Bykowicz of the Sun. But this time O’Malley is the incumbent and Ehrlich the challenger. Brian Witte of the AP looks at the race in the Annapolis Capital. Republican gubernatorial challenger Brian Murphy says he’ll give  Ehrlich his endorsement — but only if he’s willing to accept it. “He’s made it pretty clear that he doesn’t want much to do with me,” Murphy said after losing the primary to Ehrlich, reports the Capital News Service in the Sun.  The Gazette’s Alan Brody says it’s official: the 2010 gubernatorial race is a rematch of the battle four years ago between O’Malley and Ehrlich. Looking at early statewide results, the Post’s John Wagner says challenger Murphy drew about a quarter of the vote away from Ehrlich.

CONGRESS

OVERVIEW: Democratic Sen. Barbara Mikulski coasted to renomination along with Maryland’s eight incumbent members of the House in primary balloting across the state. Paul West reports in the Sun  that there were few meaningful surprises amid the low turnout. He gives a roundup.

DISTRICT 1: Andy Harris has defeated businessman Rob Fisher in the GOP First Congressional District primary to earn a rematch with U.S. Rep. Frank Kratovil, Matthew Brown writes in the Sun. WTOP ran the AP story on Harris’ nomination.

DISTRICTS 3 & 7: U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of District 7, a 14-year veteran, and U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, a four-year incumbent of District 3, will face Republican challengers Frank Mirabile and Jim Wilhelm, respectively, Kellie Woodhouse of the Columbia Flier writes. The two sailed to easy victories. The Salisbury Daily Times runs the AP story about Sarbanes’ primary win.

INCUMBENTS VICTORIOUS: WTOP ran AP stories about Maryland’s victorious Congressional incumbents: Rep Dutch RuppersbergerRep. Donna Edwards, Rep. Steny Hoyer, Rep. Chris Van Hollen and Sen. Barbara Mikulski — who will be challenged by Republican Eric Wargotz.

STATE HOUSE RACES

BALTIMORE CITY: Six-term Baltimore incumbent state Sen. George Della was unseated by 27-year-old political newcomer Bill Ferguson, as legislators across the state waited anxiously to learn their fate amid some surprisingly strong challenges. Annie Linskey and Andrea Walker also report on county State House races, including J.B. Jennings, a delegate and former Ehrlich intern who beat Al Redmer for state Senate. The Baltimore Brew serves up its hot cuppa controversy on this generation gap.

HOWARD COUNTY: With 63 percent of votes reporting, veteran state Del. Liz Bobo, District 12B, has won her Democratic primary over social studies teacher John Bailey, 82 percent to 18 percent, Luke Broadwater reports in the Columbia Flier. Larry Carson of the Sun writes about the apparent Bobo win.

BALTIMORE COUNTY: For the most part, incumbents running in Baltimore County will get their shot in the general election to return to their seats as state senators and delegates in the General Assembly, David Sturm writes for PPC.

ANNE ARUNDEL: Eric Hartley of the Annapolis Capital shares his thoughts on county races, including the fact that very conservative state Sen. Ed Reilly beat conservative challenger  Del. James King for the GOP nod. Reilly has said he has no interest in working with Democrats.

CARROLL COUNTY: Carroll County Times staff reports that some State House candidates were able to secure their parties’ nomination to run for the General Assembly, while two races were still too close to call.

BALTIMORE COUNTY RACES

COUNTY EXECUTIVE: Kevin Kamenentz looks like he will face Republican Ken Holt in the general election in November with an 8 percentage point lead over Democrat, Joe Bartenfelder, in the Democratic Primary race, according to WMAR-TV. After 9 this morning, Kamenetz was ready to accept victory, writes Arthur Hirsch in the Sun. Shortly before 1 a.m. at the Pikesville Hilton, Baltimore County Councilman Vincent Gardina took the stage in the banquet room to announce to the 60 Kamenetz supporters who remained that that party was over — for now. At last count, 158 of 231 precincts had reported, with Kamenetz holding a 53 to 44 percent lead. Arthur Hirsch and Yeganeh June Torbati report for the Sun. Here’s Andrea Fujii’s report this morning for WJZ-TV. By 11:30 p.m. on primary election night, Baltimore County Board of Elections officials said they were still tabulating results at a slower pace than expected because of a server crash, writes Bryan Sears of Patuxent. Owings Mills voters said they’d like their new county exec to be  — Jim Smith, the current county exec, blogs Erica Green in the Sun.

COUNTY COUNCIL: Patuxent reporters Lauren Fulbright, Loni Ingraham and Bryan Sears report that the Baltimore County Council has lost longtime Councilman Bryan McIntire to newcomer Todd Huff, and will see other new members on its seven member panel. The Baltimore County Council will have a substantially different membership next year, but the magnitude of the shift remains to be seen as the results of several primary races were still undetermined late Tuesday, Raven Hill reports for the Sun. The Baltimore County elections board updated its results early this morning, deciding some of these races.

POLITICAL SHENANIGANS: Bryan Sears of Patuxent Publishing reports that questions surround the actions and funding of a PAC that produced a Democratic ticket headed by Obama and O’Malley and has mailed out at least two campaign pieces against a Democratic candidate for Baltimore County Council. How the mailings and sample ballot were funded and who is behind the committee remain a mystery.

BALTIMORE CITY RACES

CITY STATE’S ATTORNEY: At 6:41 this morning, the Sun’s Tricia Bishop writes that with 100 percent of Baltimore precincts reporting, challenger Gregg Bernstein appears to have edged out incumbent Pat Jessamy in the race for Baltimore City State’s Attorney. Controversy looms, however, since the results from four of the city’s 290 precincts were not available. Brendan Kearney of the Daily Record reports that the race could come down to the 1,600 absentee ballots. WBAL-TV reports that even today, the race is too close to call. Scroll down to see interviews with the candidates concerning the tight race.

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY RACES

COUNTY EXECUTIVE: Rushern Baker wins the race for the Prince George’s County executive nod with almost 46 percent of the vote, more than 16 percent above second-place finisher Michael Jackson. The Post’s Miranda Spivack said Baker’s third time running for the position looks to be the charm. Baker’s victory is good news for union leaders, reports The Examiner’s Hayley Peterson. WTOP also has the story.

COUNTY COUNCIL: Three embattled Prince George’s County Council members hold off challengers in early tallies, reports The Post’s Ovetta Wiggins.

PG RESULTS: The Gazette has Prince George’s County results here.

SENATE

DISTRICT 47: Del. Victor Ramirez ended the primary with 64 percent of the votes, upsetting incumbent state Sen. David Harrington. Ramirez told The Gazette’s Daniel Leaderman that his community service put him on top, while Harrington said this is likely his exit from elected office.

POST RUNDOWN: In his FirstClick column, The Washington Post’s Aaron Davis runs down some of the results from the primary. 

CARROLL RACES

COMMISSIONERS: Both current Carroll County commissioners seeking re-election lost their bids for their party’s nomination Tuesday, Carroll County Times staff reports.

DISTRICT 23A BALLOT ISSUES: Three voters at DuVal High reported they did not see the names of District 23A House of Delegates candidates Nicole Williams, Lisa Ransom or state’s attorney’s office candidate Angela Alsobrooks on their ballots, reports The Gazette’s Natalie McGill. Prince George’s County election officials said that all the names were on all of the ballots.

MONTGOMERY SENATE

MOCO SENATE INCUMBENTS: The hotly — and bitterly — contested races between incumbents and challengers for four of Montgomery County’s seats in the state Senate are still too close to call, writes The Post’s Aaron Davis.

DISTRICT 14 TOO CLOSE: The race between incumbent state Sen. Rona Kramer and challenger Del. Karen Montgomery was too close to call on Wednesday morning, reports The Gazette’s Nesa Nourmohammadi.

DISTRICT 16 DELEGATES: Incumbent delegates Susan Lee and William Frick handily win nominations for another term representing District 16, but the race to fill the vacant third spot, was too close to call on Wednesday morning, reports The Gazette’s Sarah Gantz.

DISTRICT 17 TOO CLOSE TO CALL: Incumbent state Sen. Jennie Forehand has a slight lead over her challenger Cheryl Kagan, but the result remains too close to call, reports The Gazette’s Sean Patrick Norris.  As of early Wednesday morning, Forehand led by about 300 votes.

MANNO WINS: Incumbent District 19 Sen. Mike Lenett conceded the race for his seat to Del. Roger Manno at 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, reports The Gazette’s Nesa Nourmohammadi. Gov. O’Malley called Manno to congratulate him about 15 minutes later.

KING LEADS DISTRICT 39: Incumbent state Sen. Nancy King holds a 227-vote lead over challenger Del. Saqib Ali — who outspent her by $96,000 — for another term as senator, reports The Gazette’s Danielle Gaines.

MOCO RESULTS: The Gazette has Montgomery County results here.

FREDERICK COUNTY

JENKINS OUT: Incumbent Del. Charles Jenkins from District 3B lost by more than 1,500 votes to challenger Michael Hough, reports The Gazette’s Katherine Heerbrandt. 

STATE HOUSE: The Frederick News-Post’s Brian Englar goes through primary winners for state Senate and House of Delegates in districts 3 and 4.

FREDERICK RESULTS: The Gazette has more Frederick County results here.

WICOMOCO COUNTY

STATE’S ATTORNEY TOO CLOSE TO CALL: Challenger W. Seth Mitchell leads 23-year incumbent Davis Ruark by 243 votes for the Democratic nomination for Wicomoco County State’s Attorney, reports The Daily Times’ Greg Latshaw.

WORCESTER RESULTS: Incumbents reign in Worcester, report Brian Shane and Jennifer Shutt for the Daily Times. 

OTTO WINS DISTRICT 38A: Somerset County farmer Brian Otto won the Republican nomination for the District 38A seat in the House of Delegates vacated by the death of Page Elmore, reports the Salisbury Daily Times’ Deborah Gates.

HAGERSTOWN AREA RACES:

SHANK WINS DISTRICT 2: Del. Christopher Shank defeated incumbent state Sen. Donald Munson, winning the seat Munson held for almost two decades, reports The Herald-Mail’s Andrew Schotz.

OTHER STATE HOUSE RACES: Hagerstown Tea Party organizer Neil Parrott won the Republican nomination for the District 2B House of Delegates seat, reports The Herald-Mail’s Kate Alexander. He will run against Brien Poffenberger in the general election. In District 3B, challenger Michael Hough unseated incumbent Del. Charles Jenkins, and will face Paul Gilligan in the general election, The Herald-Mail’s Dave McMillion reports.  Del. Andrew A. Serafini defeated primary opponents in District 2A, and will face Neil Becker in November, reports the Herald-Mail’s Andrew Schotz. Democrat Ronald Young will face incumbent state Sen. Alex Mooney in the District 3 race in November, reports The Herald-Mail’s Dave McMillion.

About The Author

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

Join our mailing list to receive the latest news and updates from our team.

You have Successfully Subscribed!