Citing Success in Baltimore, O'Malley Starts Md. Campaign

"We stopped making excuses and started making progress," he told a crowd of several dozen people, including a group of high school friends, and a bank of more than a dozen television cameras in an oval park ringed with neatly manicured trees.

Duncan, who plans to announce his candidacy in the coming weeks, has hammered O'Malley in recent days, saying that his stewardship of Baltimore has not been as successful as he claims and that the city is beset with problems. Yesterday was no exception.

In a statement distributed by the campaign, Montgomery County Council member Nancy Floreen, a Duncan supporter, said she welcomed O'Malley to Rockville. But she went on to say that Montgomery "has about 20 homicides a year, so most folks will be concerned to learn that Baltimore has had more than 200 this year, and that the mayor has failed to keep his commitment to lower that number to 175."

The tactic did not seem to sway James Little, a retiree who wheeled his bicycle into the park and was among the early arrivals.

"ABD -- anybody but Duncan," Little said when asked what brought him to the event. "He's spending too much time running for governor instead of running the county."

The latest independent polling on the race, conducted in April for the Baltimore Sun, showed O'Malley beating Duncan by double digits in a primary contest and with a slight lead over Ehrlich in a general election matchup. Duncan's campaign produced a more recent survey showing a somewhat tighter primary race.

Securing the nomination depends, in part, on winning over voters in Prince George's County, where O'Malley and his wife joined about a dozen supporters at a large table against the back wall of Gladys Knight and Ron Winans' Chicken and Waffles restaurant in Largo.

Hasan Solomon, a political activist in the county, said the location was chosen to highlight an upscale eatery in a county that has long sought that kind of development.

Solomon said he believed that O'Malley has great potential in the county, given the common challenges faced by the two jurisdictions.

"Let's stay in touch as we ramp up," O'Malley said as the lunch broke up.

He worked the room on his way out, as he had on the way in, making introductions and seeking connections before the September primary.

Lashawn Banks, a federal employee who was dining at the restaurant for the first time, said she had seen O'Malley on the news that morning but didn't know who he was. "I can't have an opinion on someone we don't know about," Banks said.