Former Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich has pulled even with Gov. Martin O’Malley in a recent poll, which shows the rematch tightening as the race progresses.
Both O’Malley, a Democrat, and Ehrlich, a Republican, drew support from 45 percent of likely voters, with the remaining 10 percent undecided or favoring a third candidate, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Thursday.
Voter support for Ehrlich, who lost to O’Malley by 6.5 points in 2006, has slowly increased this year while O’Malley’s has slightly waned. A Rasmussen poll in February pegged the race at 49 percent to 43 percent in favor of O’Malley. After Ehrlich officially announced his candidacy, an April poll showed that Ehrlich trailed O’Malley by 47 percent to 44 percent.
Maryland is a heavily Democratic state, and Ehrlich was the first Republican governor in a generation. O’Malley’s tenure has been marked by drastic cuts in the state’s budget, precipitated by the recent economic crisis.
Hoping to seize on voter discontent with the economy, Ehrlich has based his campaign platform mostly on making the state more business-friendly, particularly for small businesses.
Said Ehrlich spokesman Andy Barth of the poll: “We think it shows that people are really interested in lower taxes and more job creation, which is what Bob Ehrlich has been proposing all along.”
O’Malley’s platform also has a heavy emphasis on job creation. His spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.
The poll also showed that a slim majority of voters favor legalizing table games in approved slots casinos. Maryland residents voted in a 2008 referendum to legalize slots, with the promise that they would generate huge sums for public education.
But the state’s foray into legalized gambling has gotten off to a slow start. Both candidates were strong supporters of slots, but Ehrlich has blamed O’Malley for mishandling the implementation.
Marylanders also are heavily in favor of stricter immigration enforcement, the poll showed.
Two-thirds of those polled said they would favor policies that allowed police officers to check the immigration status of anyone they pulled over if police suspected the individual was here illegally. That provision is central to the recently passed Arizona immigration law.
Montgomery County police check immigration records after arresting someone in violent or gun-related crimes.
