Jameson, Levy, Murphy take race for delegate

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006

On a day when turnout was driven by close races at the top of the ballot, voters chose Democratic challenger Peter Murphy over Republican Del. W. Daniel Mayer for the county’s third seat in the General Assembly.

With all precincts reporting, incumbent Del. Sally Y. Jameson led the pack corralling 21,927 votes (25 percent), followed by Del. Murray D. Levy’s 21,346 votes (24 percent) and Murphy’s 19,259 votes (22 percent). Mayer received 14,208 votes (16 percent) — 5,051 votes off the pace — while perennial Republican contender James H. ‘‘Jim” Crawford placed a distant fifth with 11,900 votes (13 percent)

Democrats said Mayer fell victim to a national backlash against Republicans.

‘‘I think this was a national trend,” said Levy. ‘‘You could localize it, but when you look at what’s happening around the state and around the nation ... the Republicans had lost the trust of the American people and that has played itself out down through state and local politics.”

Murphy’s victory ensures more turnover for a delegation that has seen plenty of change in the past four years.

Jameson, 54, won her first election in 2002, replacing longtime delegate Samuel C. ‘‘Buddy” Linton (D). Then, former delegates Thomas E. ‘‘Tim” Hutchins (R) and Van T. Mitchell (D) stepped down to take jobs in the Ehrlich administration. La Plata attorney W. Louis Hennessy (R) replaced Hutchins and Levy took Mitchell’s spot. But Hennessy would later be appointed Charles County district court judge, which opened the seat for Mayer.

The only constant has been Sen. Thomas ‘‘Mac” Middleton (D), who has served in Annapolis since 1994. He cruised past political novice Jay Bala (R) on Tuesday, 66 to 34 percent.