Democratic Howard County Executive James Robey unseated incumbent state Sen. Sandra Schrader, R-District 13, in what turned into a heated campaign toward the end.
“I think it was not so much my campaign, but my record over the last eight years,” Robey said.
Robey prevailed with 56.9 percent of the vote to Schrader?s 43.02 percent.
Robey said he expects to tackle issues such as the state budget deficit, school construction, health care and transportation.
Schrader could not be reached for comment.
The closely watched campaign intensified about three weeks before the election when Schrader accused Robey of distorting her position on birth control in campaign mailings.
The mailings, which featured pictures of birth-control pill packs and say Schrader voted to ban access to birth control, were sent by the Maryland Democratic Senatorial Committee, and Robey said he wasn?t involved in the mailings. Schrader blasted him for saying he wasn?t involved.
In response, Schrader held two news conferences and ran television commercials on two Baltimore-area stations to denounce the ads and defend her record.
The attacks and counter-attacks likely had less of a role in affecting voters than the candidates themselves, said David Paulson, spokesman for the Maryland Democratic Party.
“Despite what Schrader might want to think about being a moderate Republican, she isn?t and wasn?t and she suffered,” Paulson said.
Schrader won by a slim margin four years ago, and Robey is well- known and well-respected as county executive, he said.
However, the race wasn?t determined by who was most qualified, but by the nation?s unrest with the Republican administration in Washington, said Brian Harlin, chairman of the Howard County Republican Party.
“It wasn?t about who was the best candidate. It was about George Bush,” he said.
