Md., Va. Challengers' Fate May Depend on Inner Suburbs' Muscle

While acknowledging that the changing political climate in Northern Virginia has made it "tougher than it used to be," a consultant for Sen. George Allen (R) said Allen has not given up on the area. (By Michael Robinson Chavez -- The Washington Post)

Even so, both of this year's candidates for governor hail from the Baltimore area, and that region's issues have dominated the campaign; the candidates have had only two televised debates, and Montgomery and Prince George's were barely mentioned in either.

Both have campaigned extensively in the two counties, though, with O'Malley reminding voters that he was born and raised in Rockville and stressing a message of educational improvement, health-care reform and help for the middle class. He points to his selection of Brown to emphasize his commitment to what he almost never fails to call "Gorgeous Prince George's."

Ehrlich has made the long-delayed intercounty connector the centerpiece of his Montgomery campaign and sent at least two mailings to county residents showing him and Duncan (D) at one of three "groundbreaking" events he's had on the project.

In Prince George's, Ehrlich has promoted economic empowerment and used community grants and other support from the state to build relationships with county leaders and mayors of the small municipalities that dot the county.

At a recent marathon photo session where Ehrlich handed out checks to community groups and local governments, Seat Pleasant Mayor Eugene Grant circled through so many times that Ehrlich jokingly told him he'd gotten enough.

"It's only October," Grant responded. "There's still a lot of time left before November."

Prince George's, which has the largest pool of black voters in the state, is important in both the governor's and Senate campaigns.

Cardin has practically based his campaign out of the county in the final days, as he tries to stop defection to Steele, the state's first African American to have a legitimate shot at winning a Senate seat.

Steele received an important endorsement last week from Wayne K. Curry, Prince George's County's first black county executive, and a group of Democratic council members. They said the party had disrespected African Americans with a statewide ticket that featured only white men for the state's top offices, save O'Malley running mate Brown.

"The party acts as though when they want our opinion they'll give it to us. It will not be like that anymore," Curry said.

That brought a fiery response from County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D), who led a group of Democratic officeholders, most of them black, to rally behind Cardin in a bid to reclaim control of the U.S. Senate. "This race is not about race," Johnson said. "It's about fighting to restore the core values of African Americans and reminding them why they are registered as Democrats in the first place."

Somewhat lost in the controversy is Isiah Leggett's win in the Democratic primary for Montgomery county executive. His likely victory Tuesday in the heavily Democratic -- and majority-white -- county would mean that for the first time, the state's two largest jurisdictions would be headed by African Americans.