Turnout for Congressional Contests Could Get a Boost From Presidential Races
By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, February 7, 2008
When voters across Maryland go to the polls next week to help select their parties' nominees for president, they will also choose candidates to appear on the ballot in November in races for the U.S. House of Representatives.
Seven of Maryland's eight congressional representatives face challenges from members of their own party Tuesday. Analysts say that some of the races could be determined by the turnout, and that the spirited presidential election could drive voters to the polls. But if there is nasty, cold weather for the unusually early primary, some voters might stay home.
The most closely watched local race pits an eight-term incumbent, Rep. Albert R. Wynn, against four challengers for the Democratic nomination in Maryland's 4th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Prince George's and Montgomery counties. Wynn's opponents include Fort Washington lawyer and activist Donna F. Edwards, who came within three percentage points of defeating Wynn in the 2006 primary.
Edwards has been embraced by national progressive causes, ensuring her ability to mount a well-funded challenge to the congressman she accuses of voting too often with big business and Republicans. Edwards, the executive director of a nonprofit foundation, has challenged several key votes by Wynn in Congress, including authorizing the use of military force in Iraq in 2002 and the repeal of the estate tax.
She has also emphasized the benefits of her own experience as a struggling single mother, including two years when she went without health insurance. And she has hammered Wynn for accepting thousands in campaign contributions from corporate political action committees.
Wynn has countered that he has been an effective lawmaker for his district, forging bipartisan solutions and bringing home federal funds for local projects. He has accused Edwards of launching a campaign based on "empty cliches" and said the bulk of his voting record has been solidly on behalf of traditional Democratic causes. He has also criticized her fundraising, claiming that the causes that support Edwards's effort are funded by wealthy people who do not live in the 4th Congressional District.
The four other Democrats in the race are economist Michael Babula, utility consultant Jason Jennings, retired activist George E. McDermott and real estate agent George E. Mitchell. The four contend that Edwards and Wynn are political insiders.
The district's Republicans also have a crowded field from which to select a nominee. Michael Moshe Starkman, who ran against Wynn in 2006 and got 18.6 percent of the vote, is again on the ballot. He faces Robert Broadus, Vincent Martorano and Peter James, who bills himself as a Ron Paul Republican.
The state's other hot race is in Maryland's 1st Congressional District, which includes part of Anne Arundel County. Nine-term Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest (R) faces challengers, including state Sens. E.J. Pipkin (Queen Anne's) and Andrew P. Harris (Baltimore County), who say he is too liberal for his district, particularly on the Iraq war.
The race has featured tough television and print ads along with millions of dollars raised and spent. Gilchrest has received help from President Bush and former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich.
Pipkin, a former Wall Street bond trader, spent hundreds of thousands of his own money on the race. Harris, an anesthesiologist and Naval Reservist, is supported by several elected Republicans and the conservative Club for Growth. Author Joe Arminio and former Baltimore County Orphan's Court judge Robert Joseph Banks are also in the race.
Despite its tendency to back the GOP in general elections, the district has more registered Democrats than Republicans. Four Democrats vie to compete in November, including Frank M. Kratovil Jr., Queen Anne's state's attorney, who has the support of Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) and Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler. Also running are Steve Harper, an executive for a large consumer-products company; Cambridge-based lawyer Christopher Robert Robinson; and lawyer Joseph Werner.
The state's other Republican in Congress, Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, faces four challengers for the GOP nomination as he seeks a ninth term. His district includes Frederick County and part of Montgomery. Bartlett has handily won reelection in each of his previous runs, though the victory margin dipped in 2006.
Competing for the chance to face the Republican nominee in Bartlett's district is Army veteran Andrew Duck, the Democratic challenger in 2006 as well. Duck, who served in the Iraq war, said he thinks the United States has been distracted from the war on terrorism by an unsuccessful effort in Iraq. Four others are also in the race for the Democratic nomination, including former Frederick mayor Jennifer P. Dougherty.
The most powerful member of Maryland's delegation, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D), faces four challengers, including one Democrat, in the 5th District, which includes parts of Anne Arundel and Prince George's County, as well as Southern Maryland's three counties. Hoyer won reelection in 2006 with more than 80 percent of the vote.
Three-term incumbent Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D) faces two Democratic opponents in the 8th District, which includes much of Montgomery and part of Prince George's. They are retired lawyer Deborah A. Vollmer, a board member of the Greater Bethesda-Chevy Chase Coalition, who pledges her first action in Congress would be to end the war in Iraq; and activist Lih Young, a Rockville resident.
Five Republicans are competing in the heavily Democratic district. They are ophthalmic surgeon Steven J. Hudson, nongovernmental organization president Meyer F. Marks, lawyer Brian Mezger, software company executive Jay Roberts and lawyer Bruce Stern.
In the 3rd District, which includes portions of Anne Arundel and Howard, first-term Rep. John P. Sarbanes (D) faces a challenge for the Democratic nomination from John M. Rea, 47, an Annapolis print company salesman whom Sarbanes defeated in 2006. Rea, who has run unsuccessfully for City Council, County Council and Congress, says he would do a better job than Sarbanes at dealing with the growth anticipated at Fort Meade because as an Anne Arundel resident, he better understands the issues the army base's expansion will bring. Sarbanes is a resident of Towson.
Republicans will choose between Thomas E. "Pinkston" Harris, Christopher Panasuk, a Verizon technician, aerospace engineer Paul Spause and John Stafford, an investment strategy newsletter editor.
In the 7th District, six-term Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a well-known leader in the state's congressional delegation, Cummings faces one challenger, Baltimore activist Charles Ulysses Smith. Smith ran against Cummings in 2006 and got 2.3 percent of the vote.
Cummings, whose district stretches from inner-city Baltimore to affluent Howard County, promises to continue his work on affordable child care, education and ending the Iraq war.
The district is heavily Democratic, but two Republicans vie for the chance to take on the Democratic nominee in November: small-business operator Ray Bly of Jessup and dentist Michael Hargadon of Woodstock. The two have said district residents should have more choice in their elected leaders.
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