Party hopes Ehrlich entry buoys base

Ex-governor's announcement raises expectations

Friday, April 9, 2010

ANNAPOLIS — With former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. formally announcing long-expected plans to win his old job back Wednesday, Southern Maryland Republicans hope he has long coattails.

"Having a well-known name — a governor that a lot of people feel did a good job — on the ballot will bring additional people to the polls," said Erik Anderson, who is running for delegate in District 29B, which covers southern St. Mary's County.

Republicans hope Ehrlich's bid to recapture the seat he lost to Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) in 2006 will have a trickle-down effect that benefits all GOP candidates.

"The stronger your top of the ticket, the better it is for your down-ballot candidates," said House Minority Leader Anthony J. O'Donnell, who is expected to seek re-election.

Recent history lends some credence to that theory.

In 2006, Ehrlich and then-running mate Kristen Cox carried Calvert and St. Mary's counties by a wide margin and narrowly lost in the more Democratic Charles County.

Republican candidates for U.S. Senate and comptroller also were victorious in Calvert and St. Mary's, but O'Donnell was the only GOP state legislative candidate in Southern Maryland to win his race.

Democrats think the hotly contested gubernatorial race will engage members of both parties this year.

"I see it energizing the electorate on both sides," said Del. Sue Kullen (D-Calvert). "I think Democrats will come out defending O'Malley and Republicans will come out wanting their guy back."

"A serious gubernatorial contest is certainly going to add more energy to the fight," said Steve Waugh, a Republican contender for Senate in District 29 that includes all of St. Mary's County, the southern half of Calvert County and a small chunk of Charles County.

Visits to the Charles County Republican Central Committee Web site have increased tenfold since Ehrlich announced he would run for governor, said Chairman Bruce Wesbury.

"The enthusiasm that he's going to bring to the party is going to be significant," he said.

Ehrlich held rallies Wednesday in Rockville and Halethorpe to officially launch his campaign. He is slated to spend the next few days traveling across the state, but a schedule has not been released. Ehrlich is listed as a guest speaker at the St. Mary's County Republican Central Committee Lincoln-Reagan dinner April 17 at the J.T. Daugherty Conference Center in Lexington Park.

"Down here in St. Mary's County, there's still a lot of Ehrlich bumper stickers on cars, even though it's been three, three-and-a-half years" since he left office, Anderson said.

Charles County has twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans, according to March voter registration statistics. Democrats narrowly outnumber Republicans in Calvert and St. Mary's counties.

Waugh said Ehrlich has promised to attend a fundraiser for him. But he isn't banking on riding the ex-governor's coattails because he believes most voters in Southern Maryland look at each race individually, rather than vote the party line.

"Voters in Southern Maryland are very discriminating people and they very regularly split the ticket," said Waugh.

"They pay close attention when they go into the ballot box."

Republican Mike Blasey, who is running for state delegate in District 27B, which covers northern and central Calvert County, said Ehrlich's decision has generated a strong response on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

"It looks like it's rallying the troops," he said.

Blasey hopes the Ehrlich campaign will work in concert with second-tier candidates to brainstorm ideas and coordinate efforts to reach the highest number of voters.

He also said it's important that Ehrlich embrace core fiscal conservative principles like reducing spending and cutting corporate taxes to attract businesses and foster job growth.

"It's not just being Republican," Blasey said.

"You have to be a conservative and fight to restore liberty back to the people of Maryland."

abrody@somdnews.com