U.S. Senate, Governor Candidates Rush to Court Black Vote

Polls Suggest Top Maryland Elections Could Hinge on Group's Turnout

Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson, left, supports U.S. Senate candidate Rep. Benjamin Cardin (D), center. (By Michael Robinson Chavez -- The Washington Post)

On Saturday, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. attended an NAACP forum in his gubernatorial opponent's back yard. The next day, he went to four black churches in Prince George's County, then to a dinner for black police officers in Baltimore.

Today, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, the Democratic Senate candidate, and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley are scheduled to welcome Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to Bowie State University, a historically black college, for a rally.

With polls suggesting that turnout of black voters could be critical in the races for governor and U.S. Senate in Maryland, the campaigns in recent days have turned their messages and attention to black voters.

"I think a good bit more deserved attention is now being paid to Prince George's County and its important voters that wasn't being focused here before," said Wayne K. Curry, a former county executive who crossed party lines this week to endorse the Republican Senate candidate, Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.

Blacks make up nearly 30 percent of the state population and are the Democratic Party's most loyal constituency. Black turnout fell short of some Democrats' expectations in 2002, when nominee then-Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D) angered some when she failed to name a black running mate.

The percentage of registered black voters that cast ballots dropped to 41 percent in 2002 from 52 percent in the 1998 midterm election. Some political observers believe that contributed to her loss to Ehrlich (R).

Democrats are hoping for a higher turnout this year, and the Republican strategy is to peel off a certain percentage of black voters. Steele's campaign, for instance, said it can win the election by garnering 25 percent of the black vote.

"The black turnout is crucial," said Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.).

Cummings said there is growing discontent with the state Democratic Party among some African Americans. That, coupled with the GOP stepping up its effort to court black voters, could complicate things for Democrats this year, he said.

"The vast majority of African Americans are dedicated to the Democratic Party," Cummings said. "And then there's another group that wants the Democratic Party to do more."

The decision by Curry and five black Democrats on the Prince George's County Council to back Steele, the first African American elected to a statewide office, could have widespread ramifications since the county is considered the battleground for the Senate race.

The group said the state Democratic Party has continued to snub black voters and cited Townsend's running mate decision in 2002. Many black Democrats had hoped she would choose former Montgomery County Council member Isiah "Ike" Leggett, who is black.