O'Malley Trumpeting Montgomery Roots

But O'Malley is far better-known than Duncan in the suburban counties surrounding Baltimore, and early primary polls show the mayor having sizable leads statewide.

O'Malley said he has found Montgomery voters to be receptive and eager to learn more about him during recent visits. "They already know the other two," he said of Ehrlich and Duncan.

The mayor acknowledged that most Montgomery voters do not seem to know about his background, which he can share to help overcome a "geographic phobia" that exists among some of the state's jurisdictions, he said.

O'Malley, the eldest of six children, lived in Bethesda until he was 8, when the birth of twin siblings prompted his family's move to a bigger house in Rockville. O'Malley told reporters last week that he tries to get his children to their grandparents' home often.

"My mother will probably demand a correction, but we try to get down there every couple of weeks," he said.

Several of O'Malley's boyhood friends have volunteered for the campaign, including Libby Mullin, 36, who said she first voted for O'Malley when he ran for student council president in grade school against her older brother. She is helping O'Malley make introductions in Montgomery.

Rachael Holstine, who moved to the county from Ohio two years ago, is volunteering for O'Malley. Holstine, 59, said she decided to work on O'Malley's campaign after seeing him speak and being impressed by his charm and sincerity.

"I don't think Duncan's a slam-dunk" in Montgomery, said Holstine, who works in human resources for a public policy research company. "He's done a very good job, but I believe that the mayor has had to work with issues that are more relevant to the state. Montgomery County is not a microcosm of Maryland."

Certainly not everyone who came to check out O'Malley last week in Silver Spring left ready to support him.

Joseph Eyong, 42, politely demurred when an O'Malley volunteer approached him about joining the mayor's mailing list. When O'Malley entered the room moments later, though, Eyong positioned himself to shake hands with the mayor and handed a camera to a friend to capture the moment.

Eyong, who works for a nonprofit organization that aids immigrants, said he was impressed with O'Malley's remarks, though he found the mayor's responses to some audience members' questions to be surprisingly vague.

"He has charisma, but Duncan is a serious person," said Eyong, who said he was not prepared to support either candidate. "Duncan has done so much for Montgomery County."

O'Malley's embrace of Montgomery is not without some risk back in Baltimore.

In January, he appeared on radio station WTOP to talk about "laying the groundwork" for his gubernatorial bid.

"Let's ask a little question about your background," said the host, Mark Plotkin, at the top of the show. "You really didn't grow up in Baltimore. You grew up in Montgomery County?"

"Yes," O'Malley replied. "We only say that on airwaves that don't reach the Baltimore metropolitan market."

A few hours later, the quip was airing repeatedly on WBAL radio in Baltimore. Talk-show host Chip Franklin predicted that the comment would be repeated over and over during the campaign, to O'Malley's detriment.

That prospect did not seem to weigh on the mayor last week. Before leaving Baltimore for Montgomery, O'Malley was asked by a Baltimore reporter why he was heading for "Duncan's home turf."

"Actually, it's my home turf," O'Malley said with a smile.