Montgomery County State?s Attorney Douglas Gansler kept the Democrats in power Tuesday night as he defeated Frederick County State?s AttorneyScott Rolle in the Maryland attorney general race.
“I?m ready to go,” Gansler said. “I?m looking forward to being the people?s lawyer.”
Gansler said his first major action will be conducting a “mile-by-mile” audit of the state?s waterways, including rivers, streams and the Chesapeake Bay to root out pollution and polluters.
Gansler led Rolle with 54 percent of the vote compared to 46 percent. Several key jurisdictions went heavily for Gansler, according to unofficial results from 46 percent of the state reported. Gansler took 74 percent of the vote in Montgomery County; 83 percent in Prince George?s County; 59 percent in Howard County; and 52 percent in Anne Arundel County.
Rolle took Carroll and Harford counties with 64 percent and 56 percent of the vote, respectively.
Gansler?s win was evidence of a “long effort to build connections around the state,” said David Lublin, American University associate professor of government.
“He?s a rising politician,” Lublin said. “You have to regard him as a potential candidate for even higher office. I think you?d be foolish to assume that this is the end of his ambition. Love him or hate him, he?s not without talent. But first, he has to hold this office and perform credibly in it. ”
Lublin said Gansler?s win, coupled with an expected victory for Montgomery County Del. Peter Franchot in the Maryland comptroller race, represents a shift in statewide political power from Baltimore to the Washington, D.C., suburbs.
Part of the Baltimore Examiner’s 2006 election coverage
