ELECTION 2008: No change in Congress in county
Cummings, Sarbanes are easy winners
By Kevin Rector
krector@patuxent.com
Posted 11/06/08
Change is coming to Washington, but not Howard County’s little corner of it.
U.S. Reps. Elijah Cummings and John Sarbanes, the two Democrats who represent Howard County in the House of Representatives, were both re-elected yesterday by overwhelming margins.
Cummings, whose District 7 includes all of northern, western and southern Howard County, as well as parts of Baltimore City and Baltimore County, was elected to his seventh full term with 79 percent of the district vote.
Republican challenger Michael Hargadon took 19 percent, Libertarian Ronald Owens-Bey the remaining two percent.
Sarbanes, whose 3rd District includes parts of Columbia and eastern Howard County, as well as portions of Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties and Baltimore City, won a second term in the House, garnering 69 percent of the vote.
Thomas “Pinkston” Harris, Sarbanes’ Republican challenger, took 31 percent.
Cummings, who first entered the House in 1996, has won every race since then by wide margins. He ran uncontested in 2006. Before joining the House, he was speaker pro tem in Maryland’s House of Delegates.
Sarbanes, the son of retired longtime U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, first entered the House in 2006, replacing now-Sen. Ben Cardin.
Sarbanes said he was looking forward to working with new face, victorious Democrat Barack Obama, in the White House.
“Anytime you’ve been in a campaign for a while, you look forward to moving to the next stage, which is to get back to the governing stage of things — especially now, when it looks like we’ll have a president who will be willing to reach out in a bipartisan way to get legislation passed that we need in this country,” he said.
The easy victories for Cummings and Sarbanes came as no surprise, in part because both districts are so heavily Democratic.
During the party primaries in February, District 7 Democrats outvoted district Republicans by more than seven to one, according to Maryland State Board of Elections statistics. District 3 Democrats outvoted that district’s Republicans by more than three to one, according to the statistics.
The general election figures were similar, with both Democrats winning big margins in every county they represent.
In Howard County, 58 percent of District 7 voters chose Cummings, while 71 percent of District 3 voters chose Sarbanes.
Michael McPherson, chairman of the county’s Democratic Party, said both Cummings and Sarbanes deserved to be re-elected.
“They have safe districts to a point,” he said. “Except that when you have an opponent — despite how safe your district is — there is a chance for you to lose. You have to work just as hard.
“They both work extremely hard in their districts. ... They have what I’d call excellent constituent responsiveness.”
Staff writer Jennifer Broadwater contributed to this story.
U.S. Reps. Elijah Cummings and John Sarbanes, the two Democrats who represent Howard County in the House of Representatives, were both re-elected yesterday by overwhelming margins.
Cummings, whose District 7 includes all of northern, western and southern Howard County, as well as parts of Baltimore City and Baltimore County, was elected to his seventh full term with 79 percent of the district vote.
Republican challenger Michael Hargadon took 19 percent, Libertarian Ronald Owens-Bey the remaining two percent.
Sarbanes, whose 3rd District includes parts of Columbia and eastern Howard County, as well as portions of Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties and Baltimore City, won a second term in the House, garnering 69 percent of the vote.
Thomas “Pinkston” Harris, Sarbanes’ Republican challenger, took 31 percent.
Cummings, who first entered the House in 1996, has won every race since then by wide margins. He ran uncontested in 2006. Before joining the House, he was speaker pro tem in Maryland’s House of Delegates.
Sarbanes, the son of retired longtime U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, first entered the House in 2006, replacing now-Sen. Ben Cardin.
Sarbanes said he was looking forward to working with new face, victorious Democrat Barack Obama, in the White House.
“Anytime you’ve been in a campaign for a while, you look forward to moving to the next stage, which is to get back to the governing stage of things — especially now, when it looks like we’ll have a president who will be willing to reach out in a bipartisan way to get legislation passed that we need in this country,” he said.
The easy victories for Cummings and Sarbanes came as no surprise, in part because both districts are so heavily Democratic.
During the party primaries in February, District 7 Democrats outvoted district Republicans by more than seven to one, according to Maryland State Board of Elections statistics. District 3 Democrats outvoted that district’s Republicans by more than three to one, according to the statistics.
The general election figures were similar, with both Democrats winning big margins in every county they represent.
In Howard County, 58 percent of District 7 voters chose Cummings, while 71 percent of District 3 voters chose Sarbanes.
Michael McPherson, chairman of the county’s Democratic Party, said both Cummings and Sarbanes deserved to be re-elected.
“They have safe districts to a point,” he said. “Except that when you have an opponent — despite how safe your district is — there is a chance for you to lose. You have to work just as hard.
“They both work extremely hard in their districts. ... They have what I’d call excellent constituent responsiveness.”
Staff writer Jennifer Broadwater contributed to this story.
user comments (1)
user korey says...
"The easy victories for Cummings and Sarbanes came as no surprise, in part because both districts are so heavily Democratic."
Also because there is almost no info on Thomas “Pinkston” Harris
Posted 10:22 PM, 11.05.08
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