As elections near, fates of some Md. lawmakers already sealed

Posted: 7:38 pm Wed, September 15, 2010
By Nicholas Sohr
Daily Record Business Writer

Election Day is still six weeks away, but the fates of several Maryland lawmakers, including some closely involved in business issues, are already sealed.

The state Senate, particularly districts in Montgomery County, Baltimore and Western Maryland, saw some of the fiercest and closest contests.

According to preliminary results from Tuesday’s primary election, Sen. Rona E. Kramer, a pro-business Democrat who was targeted by major unions and progressive groups, trailed Del. Karen S. Montgomery by 100 votes in Montgomery County.

There, Del. Roger Manno led Sen. Mike Lenett by 800 votes, out of 10,200 cast. Both have pushed for tougher business regulation — Manno sponsored a bill this year that will require large retailers to give their employees shift breaks, and Lenett pushed a bill that would have barred businesses from using credit histories in making hiring decisions.

House Minority Whip Christopher B. Shank, a Republican, topped 20-year incumbent Donald F. Munson in Washington County by a 57 percent to 43 percent margin.

The Senate Finance Committee, which oversees legislation regarding banking, economic development insurance, labor issues and employment, lost two of its 11 members to the primary. Both are long-tenured Democrats.

Sen. George W. Della Jr. lost to political newcomer Bill Ferguson. Della — who has been in office for 28 years, longer than Ferguson has been alive — had served on the committee since 1985. And in Prince George’s County, Del. Joanne Benson topped Sen. Nathaniel Exum, who served six terms in the House of Delegates before his 12-year stint in the Senate.

Tuesday’s results were kind to most incumbents in the House of Delegates, with a handful of exceptions sprinkled around the state.

“Our goal now is obviously to regroup,” said House Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Anne Arundel. “We have about 80 seats that are going to come back to the Democratic caucus, where you have no opposition or very insignificant opposition. Then you have 24 seats you’re going to have to go out there and fight for.”

Busch’s counterpart, Minority Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell, R-Calvert and St. Mary’s, said his party will carry its momentum forward to November.

“I think we’re going to be unified,” he said. “We have unity of purpose like we’ve never seen.”

The fiercest fighting and some of the closest results came in contests that pitted sitting or former delegates against state senators in their districts. Some contests could come down to absentee ballots.

The House Economic Matters Committee will be short at least eight members due mostly to retirements and delegates seeking higher office.

Del. James J. King, an Anne Arundel County Republican and restaurant owner, lost his bid to unseat his senator, Edward R. Reilly. King serves on the committee, which oversees unemployment insurance regulations.

And Del. Herman L. Taylor Jr., a Democrat who led the House subcommittee on unemployment insurance, left the Legislature to take a shot at Congress in District 4, which winds through Montgomery and Prince George’s. Incumbent Rep. Donna Edwards collected nearly 84 percent of the vote in that four-way race. Taylor finished second, with less than 9 percent.

Only a few members of the House of Delegates seemed to be in trouble. Del. Nancy Stocksdale, a Carroll County Republican, was losing by 10 votes Wednesday evening, and Democratic Del. B. Daniel Riley in Harford County was behind challenger Marla Posey-Moss by 56 votes.

Del. Norman H. Conway, who heads the powerful House Appropriations Committee, sailed through his Eastern Shore primary with more than half of the vote in a three-way race. But he will face a pair of serious Republican challengers in Pocomoke City Mayor Mike McDermott and Marty Pusey, a local GOP official.

“That’s definitely going to be a hard-fought race here,” said Adam Hoffman, a Salisbury University political science professor. “He’s an incumbent. He has some advantages. But again he’s running during this anti-incumbent mood.”

The two names at the top of the tickets have drawn much of the attention the primary campaign, but produced little drama after the polls closed. Gov. Martin O’Malley skated through the Democratic contest, and former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. led the most serious contender outside the two frontrunners by a 3-1 margin Wednesday evening, according to unofficial results.

Tuesday’s result sets up Ehrlich and O’Malley in a much anticipated rematch of 2006, when O’Malley prevailed. Recent polls have showed the race is tight.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski easily stomped six Democratic challengers in her primary, and will face Republican Eric Wargotz, a physician and Queen Anne’s County Commissioner, who won a plurality with ads depicting Mikulski as a dinosaur.

For comptroller, Republican Bill Campbell, who had a long career as a top federal financial officer, defeated Brendan Madigan, an 18-year-old high school student, and will face Democratic incumbent Peter Franchot.

MarylandReporter.com contributed to this article.