Maryland Primary Preview

If 2008 turns out to be an election where voters want to change their elected officials, Maryland’s primary tonight could be the first piece of evidence suggesting an anti-incumbent mindset among voters.

Two of the state’s eight members of Congress – Reps. Wayne Gilchrest (R-Md.) and Al Wynn (D-Md.) -- are fighting to hold onto their seats against insurgent primary challengers, who have made their opponents’ records in Washington at the center of their campaigns.

The more at-risk incumbent appears to be Wynn, who has been the subject of a barrage of attack ads from both his opponent, non-profit executive Donna Edwards, and the third-party groups supporting her, namely the Service Employees International Union and EMILY’s List.

Edwards, in her first bid for elective office, held Wynn to 50 percent of the vote in the 2006 primary and has been running a more organized campaign this time around. She has aggressively attacked Wynn for voting to authorize the war in Iraq and for his ties to corporate business interests – critiques that have been reinforced with well over $500,000 million in DC-area advertising on her behalf.
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