By William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 1, 2008

For the first time in 18 years, Maryland's 1st Congressional District is about to choose a new congressman, which might explain all the ugly names being bandied about: "deceitful," "lapdog," "untrustworthy," "clueless."

This is a district that isn't used to all the ferocious rhetoric, attack ads and name-calling. But with its long-time representative flushed out in the Republican primary, the district that spans both sides of the Chesapeake Bay has a competitive race on its hands.

The Democrat, Queen Anne's County state's attorney Frank Kratovil, has accused the Republican, state Sen. Andrew P. Harris, of lying to voters and harboring the kind of economic ideology that has led to the current crisis.

Harris, from Baltimore County, has accused Kratovil of everything from letting criminals get off easy to claiming the economic crisis is all but over.

"I can't even remember the last time we had such a heated race," said Adam Hoffman, an assistant professor of political science at Salisbury University. "It's exciting and maybe even a little off-putting to voters in terms of the ads. It's just looking very close."

Part of the reason the race is so competitive this year lies in its roots.

During redistricting in 2002, party leaders crammed into the district many conservative pockets nearby, cobbling together an area that encompasses the entire Eastern shore and portions of several western shore counties, including Anne Arundel. As a result, the district has almost the same number registered to both parties but almost always votes Republican in presidential and gubernatorial races. It was a given that a Republican would win there, but Democrats didn't mind because they dominated so much of the rest of Maryland.

This year's competition, however, has brought about a political renaissance of sorts in the district. Democratic groups, long dormant, have thrown together a formidable operation in a matter of months, especially on the Eastern Shore, Kratovil's base. Republicans too have ramped up their operations after years of easy dominance.

"We basically built this operation from scratch with the help of the local Democratic committees," said Kathy Muncy, a regional coordinator for Kratovil on the Eastern Shore. Like many of the volunteers, this is Muncy's first time getting so heavily involved in a political race. "The volunteers on our rolls went from a handful to almost 1,000," Muncy said.

Mark Kilmer, president of the Wicomico Republican Club, said the competitiveness of this year's race prompted his group to open a Republican headquarters in Salisbury, a first in an election with no local races.

In recent weeks, the closeness of the race has forced both candidates to focus intently on crossover voters.

Harris has aired new ads featuring former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich, one of the few Republicans who has managed to win many Democratic voters in this state. Kratovil responded this week with an ad featuring a slew of Republican voters endorsing him and ending with outgoing Republican Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest urging voters to "cross party lines" to back Kratovil.

Also emerging from the final weeks of campaigning is the uglier side of electoral politics. Harris has brought up specific cases Kratovil has prosecuted, alleging that he has let criminals off easy. Harris has also tried to portray contributions Kratovil received from criminal case lawyers as proof he is soft on crime.

Kratovil has fought back, all but calling Harris a liar for running ads that misquote him.

Though the district's conservative makeup favors Harris, Kratovil has received more than $1 million from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which sees the seat as a potential pickup.

In response, over the past four weeks, a conservative group, Club for Growth, has committed about $450,000 to TV ads for Harris. "It's obviously a really important race," said Nachama Soloveichik, spokeswoman for the group. "We have to acknowledge race has become competitive."