So. Md. Democrats Came Out For Obama

Numbers Outstripped Republican Voters

Democratic voters turned out in far greater numbers in Southern Maryland than Republicans in Tuesday's Potomac Primary, a pattern reflected in the rest of the state and much of the nation.

More than 21,000 Democrats voted in Charles County, around 9,500 in Calvert and 10,300 in St. Mary's. Roughly 8,000 Republicans came to the polls in Charles, about 6,300 in Calvert and 7,800 in St. Mary's.

Arizona Sen. John McCain's position as the presumptive nominee on the Republican side might have kept many in his party home, while the tight Democratic race between Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) drew record numbers to the polls.

In Charles, Democrats voted overwhelmingly for Obama, giving him 65 percent of the county vote, compared with his 59 percent statewide. The huge support for Obama reflected Charles's shifting political importance within the region, as the freshman senator from Illinois drew a larger percent of the vote in the county than anywhere in the state except Baltimore City and Prince George's County.

Charles's large African American population was cited as a major reason for Obama's success in the county, as an overwhelming majority of black voters have supported him in every primary thus far.

"Charles went the way most states are going now," said county Democratic Central Committee Chairman Virginia L. Benedict, who added that she supported Clinton but that either candidate would make a capable president. "His message of change really resonated down here."

St. Mary's College of Maryland political science professor Michael Cain, an authority in Southern Maryland politics, said the overwhelming support for Obama and huge Democratic turnout in Charles is reminiscent of the 2006 election, when Republicans lost every elective office in the county.

"This is another example of how strong the Democratic presence has become in Charles County," Cain said. "Politically, it's starting to look more like Prince George's than like the other Southern Maryland counties."

Analysts said Clinton's support in Maryland came largely from blue-collar workers, a significant portion of the population in parts of Calvert and St. Mary's counties. In both counties, Obama squeaked out a win by less than 2 percentage points.

"There was a ton of early support for Hillary, and he did a lot to catch up," said Cindy Slattery, chairman woman of the St. Mary's County Democratic Central Committee, citing a straw poll conducted at last fall's county fair that showed a significant lead for Clinton.

Among Republicans, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee drew about 30 percent of the vote in all three Southern Maryland counties despite the fact that McCain has all but locked up the nomination. A substantial number of evangelical Christians and people self-identifying as "very conservative" in the tri-county region translated to votes for Huckabee, party officials and political observers said.

Meanwhile, a competitive primary among Republican challengers to U.S. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) in the 5th Congressional District resulted in a win for Charles County Board of Education member Collins Bailey. Bailey, who also ran as a delegate for long-shot Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, advocates eliminating the Internal Revenue Service and ending appropriations earmarks in Congress.

Bailey said he was pleased to emerge the victor, with 44 percent of the vote over Mike Hethmon and Jesse Dann, but he realizes the bulk of his work is ahead of him. None of the three Republican candidates raised significant amounts of money leading up to the primary, and Bailey will be hard-pressed to beat Hoyer, a 14-term incumbent, without the means to boost his name recognition.

"This shouldn't be an election about parties or personalities or people, but about issues," Bailey said. "As long as the voters know what their options are, I'm completely pleased."

In the primary, Hoyer cruised to victory over Democratic challenger James P. Cusick Sr., collecting 82 percent of the vote.