Little by little, a congressional district once seen as safe for Republicans is sliding into Democratic hands.

State Sen. Andy Harris, a Republican, started the Nov. 6 absentee ballot count 916 votes behind Frank Kratovil, the Democratic state’s attorney from Queen Anne’s County. By the end of the day, Kratovil’s lead had grown to more than 2,000 votes.

“There are a lot of ballots outstanding,” said Chris Meekins, a spokesman for the Harris campaign. “Basically, we’re going to wait and see. Monday afternoon is the next point for us. As soon as a conclusion becomes clear, we’ll make a statement.”

Harris’ challenge continues to be daunting.

He lost all nine Eastern Shore counties in the district on election night by a combined total of 19,430. And those same counties went overwhelmingly for Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Harris narrowed the gap by winning Baltimore, Anne Arundel and Harford counties by a combined 18,514 votes.

Nearly 60 percent of the 28,809 absentee ballots returned in the district were from Eastern Shore voters, according to the State Board of Elections.

Don Norris, director of the Public Policy Department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County said absentee ballots typically follow the Election Day vote.

Republican Party officials were hanging their hopes on the fact that they have been successful at increasing their presence in absentee ballots.

Privately, however, they acknowledged a trend of Republicans on the Eastern Shore voting for McCain and then crossing party lines to vote for Kratovil.

Norris’ prediction mostly held as Eastern Shore counties continued to report absentee ballot totals that increased Kratovil’s lead. Late in the afternoon Thursday, Harris’ observers at the Baltimore County Board of Elections learned that Harris lost the absentee ballot count in Anne Arundel County by 18 votes.


Kratovil’s campaign was pleased with the results reported that afternoon, but was reluctant to claim the election.

“We’re cautiously optimistic,” said Tim McCann, Kratovil’s campaign manager. “Clearly, Frank’s ability not only to win on Election Day, but to do so in a district where John McCain won considerably ...  gives us a lot of reason for encouragement. We’re confident that Frank Kratovil’s going to be the next representative for the 1st District.”

In Baltimore County, the counting of about 2,300 absentee ballots crept along for nearly eight hours as teams of lawyers representing the candidates and the Democratic and Republican parties plus volunteers from both campaigns observed every step.

The majority of the nearly 100 challenges to ballots in the Baltimore County count came from lawyers representing the Democratic Party and the Kratovil campaign.

In the end, only 34 of the challenged ballots were not part of the full count. Those votes ultimately  were counted but the ballots remain segregated and held in storage in case either campaign wishes to pursue additional action.

Bryan P. Sears is political editor for Patuxent Publishing Co.’s Baltimore County newspapers.
Capital News Service contributed to this story.

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