As his long-serving father gives up his seat in the U.S. Senate, voters chose Democrat John Sarbanes to carry on the family tradition as the next representative of Maryland?s 3rd Congressional District.
With 10 percent of the precincts reporting, Sarbanes won the seat with 67 percent of the vote. Republican challenger John White earned 31 percent of the vote in a district where registered Democrats outnumber registered Republicans 2 to 1. All vote totals are unofficial.
“I?m pleased and gratified with where we finished,” Sarbanes said from his victory party at Camden Yards. “I think we ran a hard campaign ? I think we were able to articulate a message that resonated with things (the voters) cared about. I think the vote across the country tonight reflects that people are not happy with the direction the country is going.”
White did not return phone calls seeking comment by press time.
Voters in the sprawling congressional district spanning parts of Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties and a sliver of Baltimore City had a choice between the son of a long-serving U.S. senator or an Annapolis entrepreneur who built up a multimillion dollar marketing firm.
Sarbanes, a healthcare lawyer from Baltimore County, ran on a platform of issues that included reforming health care, demanding a phased withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, and repairing diplomatic relationships internationally.
White appealed to voters with a message of improving national safety and security with stricter immigration laws.
The race for the first vacant Maryland congressional seat in more than 20 years drew 16 candidates for the September primary.
Part of the Baltimore Examiner’s 2006 election coverage
