1st District

For more than a year, Republicans have been carefully plotting the ouster of Rep. Frank Kratovil of Maryland, one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country. Party strategists never expected to contend with Rob Fisher, however. An upstart candidate with an outsider message, the conservative businessman has emerged from obscurity, thanks to the most extensive TV ad drive of any Marylander running for Congress. "We need to change what's happening Washington," Fisher said in an interview.

Frank Kratovil Jr. made history as the first Democrat elected to Congress from Maryland's easternmost district since the 1980s. Now, he's struggling against a reverse tide, one that sweeps out congressmen from the president's party in the middle of a new administration. The freshman lawmaker is probably best known for being hanged in effigy by a disgruntled Eastern Shore constituent. The incident underscored the tough challenge Kratovil faces every day. He is caught between his conservative district and Democratic leaders who'd like to have his support for their ambitious national agenda.

Like other Republican candidates around the country, Andy Harris will stress fiscal responsibility as he attempts to take back a Democratic seat in this fall's election. Harris, who is formally launching his candidacy today, vows to abstain from earmarking if he becomes the congressman from Maryland's 1st District, which covers the Eastern Shore and portions of Baltimore, Harford and Anne Arundel counties and is currently represented by endangered Democratic freshman Frank Kratovil.

Like other Republican candidates around the country, Andy Harris will stress fiscal responsibility as he attempts to take back a Democratic seat in this fall's election. Harris, who is formally launching his candidacy today, vows to abstain from earmarking if he becomes the congressman from Maryland's 1st District, which covers the Eastern Shore and portions of Baltimore, Harford and Anne Arundel counties and is currently represented by endangered Democratic freshman Frank Kratovil.

The 2010 election is shaping up to be one of the most important congressional elections of our lifetime. It may be our last and best chance to stop the Pelosi-Reid-Obama agenda of soaring deficits, crippling taxation, the takeover of the entire American health care system and much of the U.S. economy. Not since 1994 has there been such a historic opportunity to take back the House of Representatives and change the direction of America. Maryland's contribution to that effort will be to reclaim the First Congressional District seat.

High on Rep. Chris Van Hollen's to-do list this week ought to be a thank-you note to the Club for Growth. After all, it was the Montgomery Countian's job to put more Democrats in the House, and it was the ultra-conservative Club's misplaced priorities that have allowed an incumbent Republican to be replaced by a Blue Dog Democrat in Maryland's 1st Congressional District. Although all absentee ballots have yet to be tabulated, Queen Anne's County State's Attorney Frank M. Kratovil Jr. now holds such a large lead that he could safely claim victory yesterday over Baltimore County state Sen. Andy Harris, who acknowledged his defeat.

With tens of thousands of ballots yet to be counted, the bitterly fought House race between Democrat Frank M. Kratovil Jr. and Republican Andy Harris is unlikely to be settled before the end of next week, state officials said yesterday. Kratovil, the state's attorney for Queen Anne's County, led Harris, a state senator from Cockeysville, by fewer than 1,000 of the more than 329,000 votes cast Tuesday in the contest for the seat now held by longtime Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest. The tally doesn't include the more than 25,000 absentee ballots that elections officials are to begin counting today.

Frank M. Kratovil Jr., Democrat Andy Harris, Republican Richard James Davis, Libertarian

WASHINGTON - Between them, Andy Harris and Frank Kratovil have raised more than $4 million in pursuit of the seat now held by Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest. Add to that the outside money now flooding the 1st District, and Maryland's most competitive House race this year could be the state's most expensive ever. So what does the anti-tax Club for Growth want in return for the $1.8 million it has sent Harris' way for the Republican primary and the general election this year?