Montgomery County officials want to leverage the voter-rich county’s importance into more respect and money from Annapolis.
Both Gov. Martin O’Malley, a Democrat, and former Gov. Bob Ehrlich, a Republican, are likely to spend much of their time on the gubernatorial campaign trail in the county, which has the most votes statewide up for grabs.
Local elected officials, who have long complained of feeling like the state’s piggybank, see the interest in the county as a way to secure commitments from both candidates that would financially benefit Montgomery. The county gets roughly 17cents back for every dollar it sends to the state, and its share of the state’s gas tax for highway maintenance has been cut to virtually nothing.
“Both need to do well in Montgomery County to win, that gives Montgomery County voters leverage,” said Councilman Phil Andrews.
But trying to get the attention of the candidates may be a tough sell for local elected officials. All of them are Democrats, and most of them have endorsed O’Malley’s re-election bid.
“How do you get leverage with O’Malley when every single one of our county elected officials except one of them already endorsed him in the fall,” said Adam Pagnucco, author of Maryland Politics Watch.
But Andrews, who has not endorsed O’Malley but said he would not back Ehrlich, said O’Malley will need more than just the vocal backing of county politicians to win what could be a close race.
“He doesn’t just need to win Montgomery County, he needs to win it big,” Andrews said. “Intensity of support means a lot.”
O’Malley beat Ehrlich by nearly 80,000 votes in 2006 in Montgomery County. He won by 116,000 votes.
The county has the second highest number of registered Republicans in the state, and Council President Nancy Floreen said both candidates will have to pay attention to county concerns about a lack of funding for transportation and education.
“Local funding issues are not as partisan as one may make out at the state level,” Floreen said.
Aides to both candidates said they plan on doing well in Montgomery. Ehrlich’s spokesman said the governor plans to emphasize his advocacy of the Intercounty Connector, one of the Maryland suburb’s biggest transportation projects in years.
And O’Malley’s spokesman said the governor plans to emphasize his personal ties to the area — he grew up in the county and his mother lives in Rockville — as well as his emphasis on education funding.
