Key Races Await New Head Of Md. Democrats

Turnbull Expected To Keep Treasuries Full, Blocs United

Turnbull returned to her home in Montgomery County to become involved in local politics in the 1980s. She raised a family, spent time as an interior designer and worked on campaigns. Over the years, her Bethesda home became the site of fundraising events - described by attendees as crowded affairs with good food - as well as the state headquarters for Al Gore's campaign during the presidential primary.

Turnbull used her political ties to get an appointment in 1992 with then-Gov. William Donald Schaefer, after her mother died following a mastectomy to remove cancer that had gone undetected for seven years while she was in a nursing home. A year later, she and Schaefer announced that nursing home patients would be regularly screened.

Turnbull headed to the DNC in the late 1990s as chair of the women's caucus and became a go-to defender of President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal. "I wasn't tall. I wasn't blond. I wasn't a lawyer," she said. "I was a mom with kids in high school who could look into the camera and smile and say, 'I didn't marry him, I helped elect him to be president.' "

She also became involved in outreach with young Democrats and in Jewish causes; she plans to join the board of Hillel International and expects to be named chair of Jewish Women International on Monday.

While her state party post might seem an easy job in a heavily Democratic state, Turnbull's challenge will be to maintain enthusiasm among volunteers drawn primarily by President Barack Obama's candidacy and donors suffering from check-writing fatigue after the last election and in the midst of a recession.

"Every major office in Maryland is held by a Democrat, so the key now is to stress the Democratic agenda with education and health care, to hold everyone accountable and to continue the momentum so that we don't slide backward," said Terry Lierman, a former chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party who nominated Turnbull to be vice chairwoman of the DNC.