Kratovil Edges Out Harris
Absentee Ballots Appear to Give the Md. Democrat Victory

By Ovetta Wiggins
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, November 8, 2008

Democrat Frank M. Kratovil Jr. appeared to win Maryland's 1st District congressional seat yesterday after absentee ballots were counted and showed him edging out Republican Andrew P. Harris.

The Associated Press called Kratovil the winner, but the Democrat did not claim victory, saying only that he was "clearly encouraged by where the numbers stand and the subsequent Associated Press announcement."

Provisional ballots will be counted Monday, and some remaining absentee ballots will be counted later next week. "My top priority is making sure that every vote is counted and every voice is heard," Kratovil said in a statement. "There will be plenty of time for celebration afterwards."

Harris spokesman Chris Meekins said that the GOP campaign would check the remaining numbers of ballots to be counted Monday and that Harris would issue a statement after that.

Kratovil, the Queen Anne's County state's attorney, held 49 percent of the vote to Harris's 48 percent, which amounted to a 2,003-vote margin. If that stands, the longtime GOP seat will switch to the Democrats, another sign of the Democratic surge that swept the nation with the election of Barack Obama as president.

Before the last congressional redistricting, Democrats and Republicans controlled four seats each in Maryland. But when the lines were redrawn, in a process run by Democrats, the GOP's supporters were squeezed into two districts, the 1st and the 6th.

A win for Kratovil would strengthen the Democrats' tight hold on political power in Maryland and leave only Western Maryland's 6th District in GOP hands, with veteran Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett.

Harris, an anesthesiologist and state senator from Baltimore County, is one of the state's most conservative legislators. He defeated nine-term incumbent Wayne T. Gilchrest in the GOP primary. Gilchrest then crossed party lines to endorse Kratovil and actively campaigned for him.

The 1st District straddles the Chesapeake Bay and includes all of the Eastern Shore as well as portions of Anne Arundel, Baltimore and several other counties. It has more Democratic registered voters than Republicans but has favored the GOP in recent elections.

Harris had entered the race with strong name recognition and a healthy campaign war chest, and he appeared favored to keep the district for Republicans as the summer wore on.

But Kratovil, with Gilchrest's help, waged an aggressive campaign. As summer turned to autumn, Kratovil surged in the polls, and by mid-October, campaign finance reports showed he had raised slightly more money than the Republican. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee committed more than $1 million to the race.