Cardin Far Ahead in Senate Primary; Leggett Has Big Lead in Montgomery

With questions swirling about disruptions to voting, Ehrlich appeared at a Prince George's County church wearing a white polo shirt with "Ehrlich for Governor" stitched on the front and immediately pointed the finger at Democrats. He said the party's aggressive pursuit of changes to the state elections apparatus left local officials befuddled.

He refused to accept an apology from Nancy Dacek, the former Montgomery County Council member he appointed to the county's top local elections post. Democrats fired back. House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) said if the governor "wants to blame somebody for this, he should look in the mirror."

State Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Montgomery), who had no primary challenge, compared the elections official who forgot to include the electronic voting cards to "someone going to work with no pants on."

"It's a hideous mess," Frosh said.

Cardin and Mfume supporters hunkered down at locations four blocks apart in downtown Baltimore all evening. Shortly after midnight, Mfume briefly appeared before a crowd of supporters to say the race wasn't over. Mfume political adviser Walter Ludwig said that though Cardin's lead was sizeable, the Mfume team still saw "a path to victory" because so many votes in Baltimore remained uncounted.

After a day spent darting from one polling station to another, Cardin returned to Capitol Hill in the evening to cast votes in Congress before heading to the hotel where his supporters mingled in a large ballroom dominated by a pair of projection-screen TVs.

A victory by either candidate will set up what looks to be one of the most costly and combative Senate races in Maryland in a generation. The winner will replace Paul S. Sarbanes (D), who is retiring.

From the outset, Mfume lagged far behind Cardin in raising money. Cardin had spent $3.8 million on the race as of Aug. 23, more than four times the roughly $800,000 Mfume spent, according to campaign finance reports. In the end, though, the matchup was between Cardin, a steady legislative technician with 40 years in public life, and Mfume, an electric orator who had led both the Congressional Black Caucus and the NAACP.

Now the Democratic nominee faces Republican Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, who had nominal primary opposition. Steele was pulled into the campaign by a who's who of national GOP leaders, but he has distanced himself publicly from his deep party roots, instead investing heavily in an effort to convert fence-sitting Democrats and unaffiliated voters.

Steele took the unusual step of visiting both Johnson and Baker's election night parties. After visiting Baker's hotel suite, Steele told a reporter he was there as a "Prince Georgian" and he firmly believes "you can't let the party line blur the friendship."

Steele has also hoped to capitalize on unease among some black voters about how sincerely the Democratic Party has valued their longstanding allegiance.

Four years ago, Steele became the first African American to be elected statewide in Maryland, and now he makes no secret of his strategy to peel away black votes from the Democrats.