Foreclosure Surge Could Be Key Issue in Md. Primary

Wynn says none of the changes the legislation created affected a homeowner's ability to avoid having his or her home seized. "The bill did not make the situation worse, and that's what my opponent is trying to say," he said. "It neither caused nor contributed to the foreclosure crisis."

He said he supports legislation to do what Edwards has suggested -- allowing bankruptcy courts to help restructure home loans. But that issue was never debated during the years of discussion that led to the bankruptcy bill's passage, he said.

Travis Plunkett, a leading opponent of the bill's passage and legislative director of the Consumer Federation of America, said provisions to make loans negotiable in court were not "even on the table" during debate. "It didn't come up," he said.

Plunkett, however, said the bill has generally made life more difficult for those facing financial hardship, including people having trouble making mortgage payments.

Other candidates in the race also have put the crisis at the center of their campaigns.

Mitchell, a real estate agent from Temple Hills, tells prospective voters he has the most experience in the trenches helping people avoid foreclosures.

"I got three calls today from people facing foreclosure," he said Friday. "I saved a guy's home just yesterday. . . . No one has the real estate knowledge I have."

Babula, a visiting economics professor at Loyola College in Baltimore, says that his understanding of world markets makes him the best qualified to handle the sagging economy.

"I've been telling my students since last January that this would be a big problem," he said. "I'm the only one who has been teaching economics for the last five years. It gives me an advantage."

Despite the heat Wynn has taken on the issue from his opponents, Walters said economic anxiety might give Wynn an edge, as jittery voters find comfort in his 15 years of experience and look for the benefits of his seniority in crafting legislation to spur the economy. "The incumbent, in a crisis, is always stronger," Walters said.

Others point out that voters often turn against long-serving incumbents during downturns.

"Whether people will blame Albert for what is a national and regional crisis, that's hard to say," said Peter Shapiro, a former Prince George's County Council member who has not made an endorsement in the race. "That's certainly going to be [Edwards's] tactic, though."

Staff writer Hamil R. Harris contributed to this report.