Governor's Race Roundup

Presumed since 2002, the Ehrlich-O'Malley match up turned into a decisive win for Martin O'Malley. Baltimore's mayor prevailed over the Republican incumbent by a 53-to-46-percent margin, slightly better than the win that put Ehrlich in office 4 years earlier.

The Incumbent

Robert Ehrlich
Party: Republican
Position in 2006: Governor of Maryland
Education: Princeton University B.A. (1979), Wake Forest University, J.D. (1982)
Birth date: November 25, 1957
Family: Wife, Kendel, and two sons
Running Mate: Kristen Cox

Political Background:
The first Republican in 36 years to hold Maryland’s governorship Ehrlich won the seat by appealing to the state’s moderate Democrats in 2002. The then U.S. Representative beat Lieutenant Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend by a margin of 51 to 48 percent on a pro-business platform of bringing slot-machine gambling to Maryland in order to close the budget deficit without raising taxes.

Because both houses of the Maryland state legislature have been controlled by the Democrats during Ehrlich’s term, he has made frequent use of the veto. Also his slots legislation failed repeatedly to pass the legislature.

With his lieutenant governor, Michael Steele, running for an open U. S. Senate seat in 2006, Ehrlich chose Maryland Secretary of Disabilities Kristen Cox as his running mate. A former lobbyist who lives in Baltimore County, she is legally blind.

Accomplishments:
Without the use of slot-machine revenue, the budget deficit of around $4 billion has turned to a surplus during Ehrlich's term. He has vetoed several tax increases and increased funding to Maryland's K-12 school, where test scores are rising.

The Challenger

Martin O'Malley
Party: Democratic
Position in 2006: Mayor of Baltimore
Education: Catholic University of America, B.A. (1985), University of Maryland, J.D. (1988)
Birth date: January 18, 1963
Family: Wife, Katie, two sons and two daughters
Running Mate: Anthony Brown

Political Background:
After only two years as mayor, O’Malley publicly toyed with the idea of running against gubernatorial candidate Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in the 2002 Democratic primary. He decided against it and eventually threw his support behind her.

O’Malley won the mayoral election with a promise to reduce crime. And while crime has decreased in Baltimore City, it has not approached the levels promised in the 2000 election.

In the summer of 2006 he was spared a potentially bruising primary fight when fellow Democrat Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan withdrew from the race after a diagnosis of clinical depression.

O’Malley’s choice of Anthony Brown, Maryland General Assembly delegate representing Prince George County, as running mate should help him gain support in the Washington suburbs. Brown is an Iraq veteran and graduate of Harvard Law School.

Accomplishments:
O’Malley brought new organization to Baltimore’s government with the introduction of the award-winning Citistat, a crime and city services tracking system. And violent crime dropped in Baltimore City by 14 percent between 2001 and 2003. Test scores of city schools are rising, and O’Malley cut property taxes.

The Race

Update: O'Malley won the election by a 53-to-46-percent margin. Check here for full Maryland election results.

A September 24 poll by The Sun shows virtually no change in the race since July with likely voters O’Malley choosing over Ehrlich 50 to 44 percent.

In order to retain the governorship, Ehrlich must win many of those same Democrats that crossed party lines for him in 2002, a more difficult task in the more partisan atmosphere of 2006. For a Republican to be elected in this solidly blue state, he must be able to garner votes from outside the traditionally GOP areas of Western and Eastern Maryland. The largely Democratic Baltimore and Washington suburbs are key areas.

O’Malley, on the other hand, comes to the race with Baltimore City as both his showpiece and his political baggage. As the population of Maryland outside the City increases, the City politicians can no longer gain statewide office simply by the power of their home political base. They must appeal to suburban and rural Democrats, who often have negative views of Baltimore City.