Tuesday's Results In Maryland Weren't Just About Willard Beating Frothy

Tuesday's big winner in Maryland

Maryland also saw a little tryout for the next Senate race, when Barbara Mikulski won't be on the ticket for the first time since 1986. Many envision Mikulski being replaced by not just another woman, but by the first African-American in a state where almost a third of the population is African-American. In the 2010 midterms, when Democrats were being swamped everywhere, Donna Edwards was racking up an impressive win. Not only did she win with the highest percentage of anyone running in the state (84%), she had far more voters turn up to the polls for her than anyone else running for Congress in the state (160,228). Her two supposed rivals for the Senate seat-- Sarbanes and Van Hollen-- didn't do nearly as well. Despite the senatorial bloodline, Sarbanes wound up with 147,448 votes (61%) and then DCCC head Chris Van Hollen took 153,613 votes (74%). Everyone did well. Donna did best. Same thing Tuesday night.

Despite new district lines that were less friendly for Donna, she beat her two primary opponents handily-- with 92% of the vote. 41,120 voters turned up for her. Only 35,557 (85%) came out for Steny Hoyer, dean of the delegation. And the two would-be senators? Sarbanes inspired 31,161 voters (86%) and Van Hollen 33,929 (92%). The only Democrat who actually beat Donna was ally Elijah Cummings (47,818-- 93%), who had Alan Grayson actively campaigning for him.

But the race in Maryland most people were watching most closely was for the Democratic nomination for the freshly gerrymandered-- and now blue-leaning-- 6th CD. The longtime incumbent, Roscoe Bartlett had 7 Republican primary opponents and he scored 16,796 votes (43%). The Democratic race was between 5 people, although only three scored double digits, progressive doctor Milad Pooran (10%), heavily favored state Senator Rob Garagiola (29%) and wealthy businessman John Delaney (54%)-- with 19,581 votes, significantly more than Bartlett. The entire Maryland Democratic Establishment-- and Big Labor-- got behind Garagiola... with one exception: Donna Edwards. She saw the merits in Delaney first as someone who could beat Bartlett but also as someone who was fine on core Democratic values. "I'm not going to have to worry that he's going to vote to defund Planned Parenthood," she told me this morning. He may not be as progressive as Donna, but she says she's spent enough time with him to know that he's good on the issues that are important to working families and that he's a good fit for the people he'll be representing in the 6th CD. President Clinton had also backed Delaney, a huge financial backer of his and Hillary's. Now it'll be interesting to see if Hoyer lets the DCCC get behind Delaney as strongly and rapidly as they got behind his slate of corporate shills who won their primaries in Illinois last month-- and were all put into the coveted Red To Blue Program within hours.

The gerrymander, overseen by Garagiola and his crony Senate President Thomas Mike Miller, was taylor-made to create a district for Garagiola, who was backed by every major union in the state but was outspent by Delaney 3 to 1.

"It's a seat Democrats need to win if they're going to take back the majority," said David Wasserman, who follows House races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. He rates the district as one of just five in the nation where Democrats have a chance to pick up a seat. "After all, they designed it for that purpose."

The competition in the Sixth was a direct result of last year's redistricting, in which Democratic lawmakers in Annapolis turned the former Republican stronghold into a swing district by redrawing its boundaries. Overnight, it became a district in which 57 percent of voters backed President Barack Obama in 2008, compared with 41 percent in the old district.

To accomplish that reversal, mapmakers cut short the district's eastward sprawl into Carroll, Baltimore and Harford counties, instead pushing most of that rural-- and Republican-- territory into the 1st District, which is represented by GOP Rep. Andy Harris. The new 6th District now scoops up heavily Democratic neighborhoods in Western Montgomery County. It also includes Frederick.

...The nomination had long been considered Garagiola's to lose, but Delaney mounted a vigorous challenge that gained momentum in the waning weeks of the race. Garagiola, a 39-year-old Germantown attorney, had support from many state party leaders, including Gov. Martin O'Malley and Rep. Steny H. Hoyer of Southern Maryland, the second-most-powerful House Democrat.

Delaney, a 48-year-old banker who lives about block outside the district, secured the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton-- a beneficiary of Delaney's previous political fundraising-- Prince George's County Rep. Donna F. Edwards and the Washington Post, an especially influential voice in Montgomery County.

Delaney also received an early endorsement from former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, who said he backed Delaney because he was "very upset at how our Annapolis leaders basically handpicked our congressional candidate and … said, 'take him.'"

Unlike Garagiola, Delaney's fundraising and personal wealth allowed him to blanket cable television and radio with ads promoting his business credentials and attacking Garagiola. As head of a Chevy Chase-based bank called CapitalSource, Delaney had the means to cut his campaign a $359,000 check in the final days of the race, Federal Election Commission reports show.

Aside from a radio ad paid for by the Service Employees International Union, Garagiola never went on the air.

...Delaney relentlessly attacked Garagiola's work as a federal lobbyist for a powerful Washington firm that also employed Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to providing gifts to elected officials. Delaney's campaign pointed out that Garagiola had failed to note his work for the firm on state disclosure forms from 2001 to 2003.

Garagiola's aides, meanwhile, scoured through Securities and Exchange Commission filings from Delaney's bank, noting that the company was being audited by the IRS and had a stake in other companies that bought tax liens and foreclosed on hundreds of homes. Garagiola also noted that Delaney, a prolific Democratic fundraiser, had given a $2,400 contribution to the Harris campaign in 2010.