It's official: Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has won four more years in office.
The first statewide race in the 2010 election cycle was effectively decided Wednesday when the deadline for parties to name challengers to run against unopposed candidates passed without Republicans finding an opponent to take on the first-term Democrat.
"I'm flattered that people in the state of Maryland think we're doing a good job," Gansler said. The failure of the GOP to field a candidate was striking, given Gansler's vocal support for gay marriage, a position which has put him to the left of many Maryland Democrats.
Maryland Republican Party Chairwoman Audrey Scott called Gansler "one lucky guy" and said she'd hoped to put up a challenger. One candidate changed his mind, she said. Another appeared at the last minute, but party paperwork prevented her from being able to put his name forward, she said.
She would not give names. "We ran out of time," she said. She predicted that there would be more interest in four years.
Other candidates who have run unchallenged in the past will not be so lucky this fall. In Montgomery County, Democratic state Sens. Robert J. Garagiola and Jennie M. Forehand both attracted Republican challengers.
That still leaves seven of the state's 47 senators unchallenged.
The Montgomery County Republican Central Committee recruited three other last-minute candidates for House of Delegates races: Scott Graham in the 15th District; Meyer F. Marks in the 16th District; and Tom Masser in the 19th District.
In Frederick County, the Democrats put up Bonita Riffle Currey in District 4A, where longtime Republican Del. Joseph Bartlett recently decided against seeking re-election following news reports that he had used taxpayer money to pay rent to his girlfriend in Annapolis.
That race to fill two seats already had attracted five Republicans and one other Democrat.
Also two Democrats, Sharon L. Baker and Francis X. Walsh, filed in District 5A, which includes Carroll County. District 9A, which includes Howard County, attracted Democrat Jonathan Weinstein.
annie.linskey@baltsun.com
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