Prince George’s voters in Bowie and Greenbelt, voters reelected most incumbents in municipal contests Tuesday. In College Park, one council contest was too close to call and would be decided after absentee ballots are tallied Wednesday.

Bowie, with more than 54,000 residents, is one of Maryland’s largest cities. Incumbent Mayor G. Frederick Robinson ran unopposed as did District 1 council member James Marcos.

Two council members, Dennis Brady and Todd Turner, gave up their their district seats on the council and won election to the two citywide at-large seats.

Early support from Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III and several other county leaders helped Derrick Leon Davis win the Democratic nomination for the vacant District 6 seat on the County Council.

With all 26 of the district’s precincts reporting, Davis received 3,570 votes, or 55 percent of ballots cast. Arthur A. Turner Jr., with 1,254 votes, or 19 percent, was a distant second among the primary’s 14 candidates.

Davis, an educational administrator for the Prince George’s County Public School system, is Chairman of the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund. He was appointed to the board by Governor Martin O’Malley in 2007 and was elected chairman in December.

Davis, a Mitchellville resident, was born in Suitland and grew up in Capitol Heights.

In a statement, County Executive Rushern Baker III said, "One of the most critical components to our democracy is fair and equal representation of citizens in all levels of government. I encourage all Prince George's County citizens to take advantage of this opportunity to have your voice heard by the Redistricting Commission."

To testify at the hearing, or for accommodations for those who have hearing, vision or physical disabilities, call the commission at 301-952-3600, TDD 301-952-5167, or go to http://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/Redistricting2011

When campaign aides to former Maryland Republican governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. were indicted last month on charges that they sought to suppress black voter turnout last year, the allegations against Ehrlich’s right-hand man drew the biggest headlines.

But as the case moves to court Monday, the lesser-known defendant and his often controversial, behind-the-scenes work for Maryland political campaigns are poised to take center stage.

The 2011 Redistricting Commission was appointed pursuant to the prescriptions of Section 305 of the County Charter, which states, in pertinent part, that "[T]he boundaries of Council districts shall be reestablished in 1982 and every tenth year thereafter. Whenever district boundaries are to be reestablished the Council shall appoint, not later than February 1 of the year prior to the year in which redistricting is to be effective, a commission on redistricting".

Thusly, the Council adopted CR-2-2011, appointing the 2011 members of the Redistricting Commission and charging this public body with the mission to "prepare, publish, and make available a plan of Council districts and shall present that plan, together with a report explaining it, to the Council on or before September 1, 2011 ..." and further prescribed in accordance with law that "the plan shall provide for Council districts that are compact, contiguous, and equal in population".

It is too premature to determine what will happen to the Prince George's County Council's District 6 seat following the arrest Friday and pending federal investigation of its Councilwoman-elect, Leslie E. Johnson, a county spokeswoman said.

Johnson and her husband, outgoing County Executive Jack B. Johnson, face federal charges after Jack Johnson allegedly received at least $120,000 from a developer in return for "using his official influence and authority for the benefit of [the developer] and his companies," and tampering with evidence, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday by a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent.

Although not eligible to vote, area teens from Bowie and Eleanor Roosevelt high schools and Howard Community College carved time out of their busy school and extracurricular schedules to be involved in the primary election campaign efforts for Shukoor Ahmed, a democratic candidate for Maryland House of Delegates.

Ahmed has also encouraged some of them to run for public office in the future. The teens used words such as "enlightened," "motivated" and "excited" to describe their experience during and after the campaign.

The political wing of CASA de Maryland devoted thousands of dollars this election cycle to push for Hispanic-backed candidates. But some argue the group should stay out of politics while accepting taxpayer money.

CASA in Action, the sister organization run by the state's largest immigration advocacy group, spent $35,000 this election on phone banks, mailers and door-to-door canvassing across the state.

Republican Charles Lollar won the majority of Southern Maryland votes in Tuesday's midterm election, but a Democratic landslide in Prince George's County cost him the race against U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer on Tuesday night.

O'Malley, who won by 14 percentage points statewide, ran up his numbers in large part thanks to suburban Montgomery and Prince George's counties. He won more than three-quarters of roughly 470,000 votes cast in those two jurisdictions combined, including nearly 89 percent in Prince George's, his biggest margin anywhere in the state. His combined margin of victory in the two counties, about 262,000 votes, exceeded his overall statewide margin of 234,000 votes. In other words, without Montgomery and Prince George's, and Mr. O'Malley would have lost the election. (The City of Baltimore also chipped in, giving Mr. O'Malley, the former mayor, a cushion of 100,000 more votes than Mr. Ehrlich received.)

Earlier this month, President Barack Obama drew a massive crowd at Bowie State University, urging Prince George's County Democrats to come out in force to re-elect Gov. Martin O'Malley, who was losing ground in the polls. Democratic leaders feared the low turnout that plagued the primary would continue into the general election.

Partisanship aside, there are significant enough issues at stake in the county that presidential involvement should not be needed to inspire residents to vote.

The county's budget shortfalls (officials estimate a $50 million county deficit next fiscal year), second-highest crime level in the state, low standardized test scores, financially distressed hospital system and highest foreclosure rate in the state are among the many challenges that make turnout critical.

Prince George's County Maryland is deciding whether to spend more money then planned on a waste transfer facility right next to the Patuxent River adjacent to significant wildlife wetlands. Our political elite which always knows better than the rest of us and whose vision is to pave our way to prosperity is oblivious to long term costs and damages that here attempt to hide their real intentions will being to the county. In order to solve a bad management process, poor political leadership and to hide their own accountability they have decided to sacrifice long term ecosystem services for short term political expediencies.

Constitutional convention

Should a constitutional convention be called for the purpose of changing the Maryland Constitution? Under Article XIV, Section 2 of the Maryland Constitution, the General Assembly is required to ask voters every 20 years whether a constitutional convention should be called for the purpose of altering the Maryland Constitution....

Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Gov. Bob Ehrlich each tried to prove they have done more for the African-American community in a debate Thursday morning on WOLB's Larry Young Show.

Health care, veterans, crime and funding for minority-owned businesses and historically black colleges and universities dominated the election's third debate, moderated by Young, a former Democratic state senator from Baltimore. In the midst of the policy debate, the candidates barely looked at one another, instead exchanging

"that's not true" jabs and a comment by Ehrlich that O'Malley will soon be looking for a job in the private sector.

Maryland voters get one chance every 20 years to decide whether they want to hold a convention to rewrite the state's constitution, and the question is again before them on the ballot.

The threshold for approval isn't easy. It would need a majority from all voters who cast ballots in the election, not just a majority of voters who weigh in on the issue alone. It's a significant qualifier, because many voters often vote for offices at the top of the ballot and skip questions near the bottom.

Supporters of holding a convention say it could be an effective way of addressing government reforms that present conflicts of interest to elected officials, such as term limits or reducing lawmakers' roles in redrawing legislative districts.

Based on an analysis of newly filed campaign finance reports, the researchers find that the Ehrlich campaign has raised a larger percentage of its contributions from individuals (72 percent) than O'Malley, for whom individuals accounted for only 60 percent of contributions. This is a reversal from 2006, when O'Malley relied more heavily on individual contributions, and less heavily on interest groups, than Ehrlich.

"In most elections, incumbents enjoy certain fundraising advantages over challengers, such as the ability to raise large amounts of money from organized interest groups," explains University of Maryland researcher Paul Herrnson, who directs the Center for American Politics and Citizenship. "Ehrlich enjoyed this advantage as the incumbent during the 2006 campaign, and the reversed roles of the current campaign seem to be benefiting O'Malley."

Democrats who had been undecided during the summer are lining up behind O'Malley, who enjoys wide margins in the vote-rich Washington suburbs of Montgomery and Prince George's counties and has a narrow edge in the Baltimore suburbs — regions where Ehrlich had hoped to make inroads.

For the first time in a general election, early voting is underway in the state of Maryland. From 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day until Thursday of next week, voters will be able to cast their ballots at 47 locations in Montgomery County, Prince George's County and Howard County.

THE FOLLOWING are The Post's endorsements in contested legislative races for the Maryland House of Delegates in Prince George's County. (With the exception of District 27, where Sen. Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. faces only nominal opposition, the races for state Senate in Prince George's are sadly all uncontested. ) The names of endorsed candidates appear in boldface.

Five minutes after early voting started at the Bowie Library at 10 a.m. Friday, poll worker Delores Sharp looked up to see a line of more than 50 people stretching out the door.

"Oh my goodness! Well, I guess they got the word," Sharp said.

Poll workers and voters said they saw more people and experienced fewer problems at the start of early voting for the general election in Prince George's County, raising hopes for supporters of Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) in his race against former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) in the Nov. 2 election.

Prince George's County Executive Democratic nominee Rushern Baker (right) and Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett (center) host a press conference earlier this month in Lanham with other county school officials, including Prince George's Board of Education Chairwoman Verjeana M. Jacobs (left), to express their concerns over education funding cuts recently proposed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

One of the states where Black turnout is important is Maryland, where incumbent Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) is fighting to keep his job from former Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R), whom he defeated in 2006 with a strong African-American vote in Prince George's County and Baltimore. Recent polls show that O'Malley has a 5-point lead, but that is among likely voters, a sample that does not traditionally include a large number of African Americans.

Fact checking how Prince George's fared under Ehrlich and O'Malley

With the two leading candidates for governor spending an increasing amount of time in voter-rich Prince George's County, former GOP governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has made the provocative suggestion that the heavily Democratic jurisdiction fared better during his tenure than during that of his rival, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).

O'Malley said he made no apologies for environmental regulations to protect Maryland's environment and the Chesapeake Bay. O'Malley said Maryland sits in the center of a corridor of innovation, provided that state leaders protect investments in education.

This state has a competitive gubernatorial election between current Gov. Martin O'Malley and former Gov. Bob Ehrlich. At this university, the media and politicians like to talk about tuition. However, I've been engaging students on environmental issues for the last four years, and the majority either have an inclination to support environmental policies or actively promote them. The most concrete example of this is the 2007 SGA election referendum in which 91 percent of student voters approved a self-imposed green fee to offset carbon emissions.

If you care about the health of the Chesapeake Bay, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, creation of clean energy jobs and construction of the Purple Line, the best choice for governor is clearly O'Malley.

Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich began to open up about how he would pay for some of the tax cuts he's been promising on the campaign trail and told AP reporter Brian Witte that he'd chop the extra education money that goes to Baltimore, Prince George's County and Montgomery County.

The additional funds are fondly known in Annapolis as the GCEI, or Geographic Cost of Education Index. The theory is that the money pads allocations to places in the state where the cost of living is either quite high (Montgomery County) or where the conditions are so unappealing that teachers need hardship duty funds (Baltimore and Prince George's County).

"He's a man of integrity. When he says he's going to do something, he does it. What more could we want in a leader?"

The words spoken by Fred Harley, a long time community activist in Clinton, are descriptive of the next Prince George's County Councilman who will lead District 9, Mel Franklin.

Franklin, 34, beat a crowded field of 10 candidates with an aggressive strategy that outlined economic growth, educational improvements, job creation, and a commitment to public safety.

Late Friday night, Gov. Martin O'Malley was shaking the last few hands on his way out of a union hall in Forrestville when Jos Williams made him a promise.

"We'll deliver Montgomery County and Prince George's County," the president of the Metropolitan Washington Council of the AFL-CIO pledged. "The western half of the state can do what the hell it wants."

O'Malley's re-election campaign will need to do more than just win Prince George's if the incumbent is to top the Republican nominee, former Gov. Bob Ehrlich, in the Nov. 2 general election. It'll need robust voter turnout far in excess of the middling 21 percent on primary day. Turning out voters in Prince George's will require heaps of support from the county's unions, plus some payoff from the incumbent's closeness with President Barack Obama.

Rushern Baker III, who won the Democratic nomination for Prince George's County executive, watched as his friend Adrian M. Fenty made bold and sometimes controversial changes as D.C. mayor, especially school reform, which Baker, too, has promised.

Then, on Sept. 14, as Baker won in Prince George's, he saw Fenty, criticized for having lost touch with even his closest supporters, get booted out of office.

But Baker, who has no Republican opponent on the Nov. 2 ballot and is soon to take the reins in Prince George's, is optimistic that his pledges to remake his county's political and fiscal culture and improve its lagging public schools can be accomplished without alienating his reform-minded political base.

Another 5.5 cents of every dollar will go to the local governments in which a slots facility is operating, with portions also initially given to Baltimore through the Pimlico Community Development Authority and Prince George's County for the area near Rosecroft Raceway, even though there are no slots casinos planned there. How much of that goes to Anne Arundel County will be dependent on the profitability of its facility, as every jurisdiction with a slots site will be allocated money based on its share of gross revenue....

A "yes" vote on ballot Question A would clear the path for the casino. A "no" vote would kill the zoning legislation and require the county to approve new zoning before any future slots proposal could move forward.

America's largest and fastest-growing ethnic group recorded another political milestone last week when voters in Maryland – a major receiving state for Central American immigrants, many of them illegal aliens – prepared to elect Salvadoran-born Victor Ramirez their first Latino state senator.

Ramirez, a Democrat who's served in the Maryland legislative assembly for the past eight years, defeated incumbent David Harrington, an Anglo, by a two-to-one margin in Prince George's County, a largely African American political jurisdiction located on the outskirts of the nation's capital. Ramirez is expected to win easily against his Republican opponent in the general election this November, despite his outspoken pro-immigration politics and growing pressure from the state GOP to institute an Arizona-style crackdown.

But Ramirez's win also illustrates just how far Latinos still need to go to transform their demographic strength into real political clout. Nationwide, about 200 state assemblymen and – with the Ramirez win – some 60 state senators are Latino. That means less than 4% of the country's 7,200 elected state representatives are Latino. Five years ago, the figure was just 3%.

Maryland's lack of a true two-party system means most important races have been decided five weeks before the Nov. 2 general election.

Not only does that shortchange voters by distorting the electoral process, it leads to citizen disinterest and disappointing turnouts.

Last week's primary voting set a record for lowest participation rate in a modern Maryland election. If that trend is repeated in November, it could create surprising results.

Maryland's Green Party plans to meet this weekend to select a U.S. Senate candidate to run in the general election after the party's nominee, Natasha Pettigrew, died earlier this week after being hit by a sport utility vehicle while biking.

Pettigrew was training for a triathlon when she was struck around 5:30 a.m. Sunday near Largo. She died of her injuries sometime between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning at a Prince George's County hospital, Maryland State Police said.

The driver of the SUV allegedly told police she thought she had hit a deer. She called police after returning home and finding Pettigrew's bicycle beneath her Cadillac Escalade. An investigation is ongoing.

Ex-Marine and businessman Charles Lollar of Newburg captured the GOP nomination to oppose U.S. House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer in the Nov. 2 general election after claiming 58 percent of the primary election votes as of midnight Tuesday....

Unseating Hoyer, 71, a 15-term incumbent who has become one of the nation's most influential and well-funded politicians, will be a tall order.

In an effort to speed up the process of tabulating votes from the primary election, the Prince George's County Board of Elections implemented a new process that instead caused the county to be one of the slowest jurisdictions in the state to compile results.

Alisha Alexander, the county's elections administrator, said a more efficient approach will be taken in the next election.

"We understand that everybody wants results in a timely manner," Alexander said.

Prince George's County Democrats appeared to be searching for a new style of leadership Tuesday when they nominated former state delegate Rushern L. Baker III to be the next county executive and turned aside a bid from popular county Sheriff Michael A. Jackson.

Baker basically just gave a victory speech and it wrapped up as soon as new numbers keep him at a nearly 10-percentage lead ahead of Jackson.

Here are the latest numbers from 91 precincts, 39.4 percent of precincts county-wide:

Good morning and welcome to Election Day, when members of Maryland political parties will head to the polls to pick nominees for U.S. senator, U.S. representative, governor and an array of other state- and county-level positions (see the Voters Guide for information about all the races and candidates). It's expected to be a nice one. Keep an eye on the Maryland Politics blog throughout the day for the latest updates and scenes from the campaigns and polling places.

The Washington Post spoke last month with several Prince George's County undecided voters about Tuesday's Democratic primary for county executive. The voters -- a diverse group of residents from across the county -- discussed in the Aug. 15 article concerns about schools, economic development and the environment. Five are vying to replace term-limited Jack B. Johnson: former delegate Rushern L. Baker III, Sheriff Michael Jackson, County Council member Samuel H. Dean (Mitchellville), Del. Gerron S. Levi and businessman Henry C. Turner Jr.

Miranda Spivack

Prince George's officials are girding for a busy day Tuesday, when voters in the county's 223 precincts will choose a new county executive, county council, sheriff, state's attorney, school board and General Assembly representatives, and fill down-ticket local posts.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The county, where nearly 15,000 residents already cast ballots in Maryland's first-ever early voting this month, could see turnout top the 32 percent in the last nonpresidential primaries, in 2006. That year, 116,000 ballots were counted in the heavily Democratic county, where there are about 400,000 registered Democrats, about 100,000 more than in neighboring Montgomery County.

In 2008, Sydney Jerome Harrison voted for the first time in 18 years. This year, he is running for Prince George's County Council.

Harrison, one of 10 people seeking the District 9 council seat in the upcoming primary, has voted once since 1992, according to a review of county election records.

Although the other nine candidates have missed occasional elections, Harrison's record is by far the barest. The lifelong county resident registered and voted in 1992 but only voted again once so far, in the 2008 presidential general election.

The schedules are packed with door-knocking, neighborhood canvassing, community picnics and visits to the county's many large churches, as the dozens of candidates in Prince George's Democratic primary begin their push to the finish line before Tuesday's balloting begins.

Locally, Prince George's County Executive Jack Johnson along with Councilmembers Camille Exum, Dist. 7; Tony Knotts, Dist. 8; Ingrid Turner, Dist. 4; and Marilynn Bland, Dist. 9, are all under investigation for possible wrongdoing involving American Hospitality Management, run by developer Arun Luthra.

According to court documents, members of the council attempt to extort money from the corporation to get projects approved.

The complaint specifically singles out Knotts for walking into American Hospitality Management and telling an employee that if Luthra procured 10 "Diamond" members, which would amount to $40,000, for a political event in September 2009 then Knotts would remove any hurdles in the way of American Hospitality Management projects.

Less than a week before the crowded Democratic primary, fliers labeled "official Democratic" ballot hit more mailboxes in Prince George's County. And many of them are anything but official.

Residents from Greenbelt to Fort Washington reported receiving fliers in the mail Thursday that appear to associate candidates in Tuesday's election with people whom they are not endorsing, despite a judge's order Tuesday banning one set of fliers circulating in the southern part of the county and allowing sheriff's deputies to confiscate them.

Ask Prince George's County residents and politicians what the top issues are this election season, and they are likely to agree on three: economic development, education and crime.

With the primary election coming up, citizens in Laurel, Beltsville and College Park are trying identify the best candidates. With so many races, it can be confusing.

Together with Gov. [Martin] O'Malley, Sen. Barbara Mikulski and Congressmen Steny Hoyer and John Sarbanes, I've sent a sample ballot to local Democrats indicating which Democrats, at all levels, I support. If you didn't get one and would like it, just go to www.21stDistrictDemocraticTeam.com and print it out. I hope it's helpful.

But I also on want to focus your attention on a handful of races of particular importance to our community, in addition to the County Council and school board.

A Maryland judge's ban on distribution of campaign literature that state officials contend is misleading likely amounts to a prior restraint that runs afoul of the First Amendment, two prominent lawyers in the field told POLITICO.

Acting on an emergency request from Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler, Prince George's County Circuit Court Judge Larnzell Martin Jr. issued an order Tuesday evening barring anyone from disseminating a sample ballot for the Sept. 14 primary that was recently mailed to Democratic voters and distributed at an early voting site in Oxon Hill, Md.

The Sept. 14 primary election in Prince George's County offers voters a rare opportunity to rewrite the script for a host of elected offices, including the school board and the county executive.

The opportunity for change has come about because of several factors. Term limits have opened up the county executive's job and five seats on the nine-member County Council. The closing chapter of a revamp of the school board is compelling all candidates for the nine seats to run in district races, rather than countywide, as some had in the past.

The vast number of candidates in Prince George's Democratic primary vying for county executive, County Council, sheriff, state's attorney, school board and the General Assembly is enough to confuse even a well-informed voter. But a flier circulating last week suggesting that candidates were backing people they are actually opposing has caused a county judge to step in.

WTOP's Mark Plotkin socked it to the five candidates in the Prince George's County executive race in a debate this morning, deliberately repeating the worst things said about them and asking for their response. The criticism ranged from the personal ("you're too much a loner") to the damning (your department is "poorly run with numerous shootings of household pets").

They say they didn't do it. Two candidates accused of creating a controversial, and some say fake, ballot say they were not involved.

It started when State Senator Anthony Muse said his primary opponent Albert Chatmon and Maryland Delegate Kriselda Valderrama, along with Prince George's County Council candidate Jerry Mathis, were behind the creation of a brochure that gave out incorrect information.

Campaign Alert! A Fake Ballot is going around and was first discovered during early voting at the Oxon Hill Library on Friday. This ballot not only was mailed under the auspice of a group called "Citizens for Change" but the group has been found to be fake with a fake address and fake treasurer's name. Concerned Prince Georgians -- we have a motto that -- "birds of a feather flock together" so if this fake ballot lists the good Rev. Muse erroneously as supporting Councilmember Samuel Dean as reported -- we can only surmise that Councilmember Dean is aware of this fakery. As our readers know Rev. C. Anthony Muse endorsed County Executive candidate Rushern Baker.

Rushern Baker, candidate for Prince George's County Executive today welcomed the endorsement of County Councilmember Will Campos (click here) calling the decision to switch his support courageous. Baker says, "I look forward to working with Will on issues of fundamental fairness on the County Council. His support and energy are welcome as we make this County Great for all of its residents."

More than 10,000 voters headed to the polls on Friday for Maryland's primary in the state's first day of early voting.

Gov. Martin O'Malley, who was the 222nd voter who cast a ballot at the Public Safety Training Facility in Baltimore, said he hoped early voting would create higher turnout.

"I want to encourage everybody to take advantage of this," O'Malley said after voting in the early afternoon when there were no lines. "It was very quick. It was very easy."

Voters will be able to vote on five more days up until the Sept. 14 primary. At least one early voting center is open in every Maryland county, and there will be 46 across the state.

Every year politicians easily outnumber firetrucks at Greenbelt's Labor Day parade, but the rite of passage in Prince George's County politics Monday had a special intensity that melded the friction of big-city politics with small-town America.

The Maryland primary is still a week away but there are already allegations of election fraud coming out of Prince George's County.

Candidates often hand out sample ballots to guide voters when they go to the polls. For instance, this year, there's a pamphlet of Governor Martin O'Malley and leading Prince George's County office-holders along with the names of the candidates they've endorsed.

A 39-year-old Filipino American and mother of two is gunning for her second term representing the 26th legislative district of Prince George's County in Maryland.

Kriselda "Kris" Valderrama is competing with six other Democratic challengers in the September 14 Primary. The top three vote getters will face their Republican opponents in the November general election.

In her first primary four years ago, she barely won, edging her closest rival by only 100 votes. As an incumbent, however, Valderrama is expected to have an advantage over new challengers.

Likewise, the full support of Filipino-Americans in the Maryland neighborhoods of Oxon Hill, Temple Hills, Camp Springs and Fort Washington is expected to boost her re-election bid after her campaign noted that close to a thousand registered Fil-Am voters failed to cast their ballot in the 2006 primary elections.

Prince George's County State's Attorney candidate Angela Alsobrooks is asking for a investigation into an illegal sample ballot mailed to Prince George's County voters.

In a letter to state and federal prosecutors, Alsobrooks says the mailing violates both Maryland election laws and federal mail fraud laws.

The ballot bears the authority line "Citizens for Change, Charles Summers, Treasurer," as Alsobrooks and Maryland Politics Watch point out, there is no committee matching that name and treasurer registered with the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Prince George's County had 1,799 early voters Friday, with 1,690 Democrats and 101 Republicans. Montgomery had 870 total early voters, with 705 Democrats and 152 Republicans. Baltimore County had 1,772 — 1,371 Democrats and 408 Republicans.

Prince George's County polling sites were busy with voters and candidates today as early voting for the primary election began for the first time in Maryland.

Early voting was approved in a referendum in 2008, and except for Sunday, the polling locations will be open through Thursday to make the process more convenient for voters.

Hurricane Earl, heading up the East Coast, might disrupt the Labor Day weekend for many beach-goers. But on Maryland's Sept. 14 primary election day, look out for a "perfect storm" brewing within the state's Republican Party.

Brian Murphy is the young Montgomery County businessman challenging Bob Ehrlich for the Republican gubernatorial nomination. He can't beat Ehrlich, and he can't beat Martin O'Malley, the Democratic incumbent, in the nation's fourth most liberal state.

Prince George's County Voters can vote early beginning September 3 through September 9.

The Prince George's County Board of Elections announces Early Voting!! In addition to Election Day, now, Prince George's County voters will have six additional days to vote. Early voting begins on Friday September 3 through Thursday, September 9. The early voting centers will be closed on Sunday, September 5, 2010 but will be open on Labor Day, September 6, 2010.

"The Board of Elections is excited about early voting. This will give Prince George's County voters an opportunity to vote at their convenience and I challenged the voters of Prince George's County to take advantage of the opportunity" said Elections Administrator Alisha Alexander.

Starting, Wednesday September 1st, Prince George's Community Television, "CTV" will be broadcasting more than 15 hours of Candidate Debates presented by the Prince George's County chapters of the League of Women Voters and the NAACP in cooperation with Prince George's Community Television.

Prince George's County has a large number of competitive races because of term limits. The County Executive and 5 of the 9 councilmembers are term limited out, creating many open and competitive seats.

These races are also critically important because of Prince George's poor track record of development. Most of the county leaders have focused on bringing large greenfield developments, like National Harbor and Konterra, into the county, while virtually neglecting the areas around the 15 Metro stations and existing communities with transit and retail.

Residents of College Park – and, indeed, all of Maryland – are no longer limited to a single day to cast their votes for this year's primary elections.

In addition to the primary election on September 14, residents may now partake of the newly implemented early voting option, available Sept. 3 to Sept. 9, from 10 a.m. until 8 p.m. every day except Sunday, Sept. 5. The College Park Community Center is one of five early voting sites in Prince George's County.

Elections officials are watching carefully to see how well Marylanders take to the idea of early voting. For the first time, voters are allowed to cast ballots up to six days in advance of the election. As political reporter Pat Warren explains, lawmakers who supported it hope to see it pay off for them.

State lawmakers running races this year are looking for early voting to give them an advantage.

"Baltimore City, Prince George's County, Montgomery County, Howard County, Baltimore County--all of these counties have very, very important races and we have a tendency sometimes to forget that the primary is as important as the general," said Cathering Pugh.

Sydney Harrison of Upper Marlboro, one of 10 candidates vying for the Prince George's County Council's District 9 seat, has outraised and outspent all of his opponents so far in 2010, according to the most recent campaign finance reports filed with the Maryland Board of Elections.

The reports, which were due Aug. 17, show that Harrison has raised $136,860 so far this year, the combination of a personal loan of more than $106,000 and contributions of about $30,000. Harrison also has outspent all of his opponents, with expenses totaling about $82,600.

His contributions include $3,000 from the HousingMaryland PAC, the political action committee of the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association, which represents real estate and development industries around the region. Harrison declined to comment.

All 10 candidates are registered as Democrats. The Democratic primary is Sept. 14, and the general election is Nov. 2. All candidates are required to file another campaign finance report Sept. 3.

The chairman of Maryland's powerful Senate Budget and Taxation Committee reported Thursday that roughly $187,000 has been drained from his campaign account, and his attorney is conducting a "comprehensive investigation" to determine what happened to the money.

Sen. Ulysses Currie, a Prince George's County Democrat, also reported that he has replaced his longtime campaign treasurer. Currie's attorney, Gregg Bernstein, wrote in a letter to the Maryland State Board of Elections that "inconsistencies" with the campaign funding report "appear to be the result of the treasurer's conduct."

Seeking to ease traffic along Indian Head Highway/Route 210 and maintain state funding for education, Del. Veronica L. Turner of Camp Springs is seeking her third term in the Maryland House of Delegates District 26 seat.

Although Turner, 60, who was elected to the delegation in 2002, made strides in securing funding for a new Oxon Hill High School and auditorium for Crossland High School in Temple Hills, she said she still sees a full plate of tasks to accomplish if re-elected.

Del. Justin Ross (D-Dist. 22) of Hyattsville plans to ask the state for $150,000 during the next session of the General Assembly in 2011 to continue researching opening a satellite campus for the University of Baltimore law school in Prince George's County.

The money would be used to hire a consultant to gauge the demand for evening classes among aspiring lawyers in Washington, D.C.'s suburbs.

There are two law schools in Baltimore — the University of Baltimore and the University of Maryland campus in Baltimore — that cost less to attend than most of the six law schools in the District, but it takes longer to commute there for residents of Prince George's County and other D.C. suburbs, according to a preliminary report given to the General Assembly last fall.

With the County's election season at fever pitch, signs of Maryland's Invisible Hand (IH) – political leaders who've stayed too long and lost the dream. The moneyed special interests they cater to are everywhere. Their loyal county subjects are busy carrying out orders but moving cautiously so as not to wake the people; knowing that stirring the people's attention could be a problem. Their greatest worry is that Prince George's County could end up with yet another independent leader....

It might not be possible to end the slate system, but maybe, just maybe, we ought to consider "A People's Slate", you know, sort of like the People's Choice Awards.

Word that Maryland will share more than $4 billion in federal education grants stirred excitement among school leaders and had another group grinning: Gov. Martin O'Malley's re-election campaign.

The Democratic governor has made education a central theme in his campaign, which most opinion polls show to be a closely fought contest with former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican.

O'Malley brags about the state's top ranking by Education Week magazine and his efforts to preserve school funding. He endorsed changes in tenure laws and teacher evaluations to boost Maryland's chances at getting the federal money, a stance that angered influential teachers unions.

With less than a month to go until the Democratic Primary, candidates for Prince George's County Executive are trying to get voters to pay attention. (Watch video.)

According to the Shukoor.com campaign site, the "Ask Shukoor" initiative encourages voters to "send us a question via email at AskShukoor@gmail.com, and we'll post Shukoor's video response!"

A judge has gotten in the middle of a fight brewing between the Prince George's County Sheriff and the local Fraternal Order of Police president.

It all started when two sheriff's deputies were indicted for allegedly embezzling thousands of dollars from FOP Local 112. Another deputy, Robert Cease, is the president of the union and spoke out about the case to the media.

That's when he says his boss, Sheriff Mike Jackson, threatened him and later disciplined him for "talking to the media."

"I've been in fear of losing my job for the last couple of years," Cease says. "I've been under investigation four times and it's been a scary ride for me."

Sparks flew when the five candidates for county executive posed questions to each other during a recent candidate forum.

During the forum hosted by the Prince George's County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People each candidate took the rare opportunity to ask another candidate one question.

More than 200 people — many already affiliated with a campaign — listened as candidates probed each other, cheering and jeering as they saw fit.

A Prince George's County judge Friday ordered Sheriff Michael Jackson to remove a reprimand given to the sheriff's union president for speaking out about alleged embezzlement within the union from former union leaders.

In a civil case filed against Jackson, the sheriff's office and Assistant Chief Sheriff Paul Drula, union president Robert Cease alleged he has been threatened with reprimands and termination for publicizing an audit that resulted in the indictment of two former union leaders who are high-ranking members of the sheriff's agency.

Circuit Court Judge William Cave ordered the sheriff's office to remove a reprimand Cease received from the office after he began speaking out about the audit findings.

With the Sept. 14 primary less than a month away, residents in Prince George's will choose among five candidates for a new county executive, 45 contenders for nine County Council spots, and 37 rivals vying for the nine-member school board, as well as a new sheriff and a new top prosecutor.

With a month to go before the primary elections, candidates for the Prince George's County Council's District 8 seat pledged during a Tuesday forum at the Oxon Hill library to spearhead efforts for commercial developments and revitalize communities in the district.

The event, sponsored by the Fort Washington Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, was attended by candidates Betty Horton-Hodge, Jerry Mathis, Archie O'Neil, André Nottingham and Obie Patterson, all of Fort Washington. Antwan Brown of Oxon Hill and Trevor Otts of Fort Washington did not attend.

The District 8 seat is now held by Tony Knotts (D) of Temple Hills. Due to term limits, Knotts cannot run for re-election. Seven candidates — all Democrats — have filed for District 8, which includes Temple Hills, Oxon Hill, Fort Washington and Camp Springs. Primary elections are Sept. 14, and the general election is Nov. 2.

Adrion Howell, a lawyer and owner of a government consulting company, believes his career experience will help him improve office operations if he is elected clerk of the circuit court in Prince George's County.

"I really want to create a professional and efficient work environment that is going to deliver quality customer service to the citizens of the county," Howell said.

Prince George's County residents who wish to vote in the September 14, 2010 Gubernatorial Primary Election are reminded that the deadline for voter registration is 9 p.m. on Tuesday, August 24, 2010. This is also the deadline for voters to change their party affiliation before the primary election. Candidates are also reminded that the last day to order lists of registered and/or absentee voters is Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 9 p.m.

In order to register to vote in Prince George's County, individuals must be a U.S. citizen and live in Prince George's County. Also individuals may register to vote if they are at least 16 years old but cannot vote unless they will be at least 18 years old by November 2, 2010.

The shooting of a dog Friday by a Prince George's County sheriff's deputy is being touted by opponents of Sheriff Michael A. Jackson, who is running for county executive, as a reason not to elect him.

"I made mistakes. I knew I had to deal whatever came from my decisions," said Donya Williams, whose 2-year-old Rottweiler, Kato, was shot and killed by a deputy serving an eviction at her home Friday. "What I don't understand is why my dog had to be shot as a consequence."

At a political event Monday in Upper Marlboro called by Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo, Williams called for voters to not elect Jackson in the five-way primary race for county executive on Sept. 14.

Mitchellville attorney Leslie E. Johnson (D), who is running for the Prince George's County Council District 6 seat, said that if she is elected in November she will focus on education, reducing crime and fostering jobs.

"I'm running for office because I think that our county, for the last eight years, has been moving in a very positive direction, and I believe that I am the strong and unifying leader that can continue to move it in that direction," said Johnson, 58.

Prince George's County Executive candidate Henry C. Turner Jr. did not pay a quarter of a million dollars in taxes until the federal government put a lien on his home.

Turner owed the federal government $245,508 in unpaid income taxes for the tax period that ended Dec. 31, 2004, according to a copy of the Internal Revenue Service lien obtained by The Washington Examiner.

"We have made a demand for payment of this liability, but it remains unpaid," the lien states.

Prince George's County Executive candidates Rushern L. Baker III and Michael Jackson defended their records at a crowded church forum Wednesday night.

Baker, a former state delegate who has failed in two previous bids for the seat, and Jackson, the county sheriff, are regarded by many as the frontrunners in the five-way race to succeed outgoing County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D). Both Baker and Jackson spent a solid chunk of their time before the estimated crowd of 220 at Reid Temple AME Church in Glenn Dale addressing criticism regarding their professional performances. All five candidates attended the forum.

Jackson denied accusations that he mishandled a July 2008 raid where deputies kicked in a door and shot two dogs while seizing a package of marijuana at the home of Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo, who police later deemed an innocent victim in a drug-delivery scheme.

Prince George's County was hit hard by the recession. It was ground zero for foreclosures, joblessness and, at one time, crime.

Now there are five candidates running to succeed County Executive Jack Johnson, who is returning to the private sector after eight years running the county.

his year, Marylanders will have their first opportunity to stand at a voting machine and cast their ballots before Election Day.

Approved by voters in 2008 and created by the legislature in 2009, Maryland's early voting program debuts at a time when the marquee showdown between a current and former governor dominates most election coverage. Consequently, many voters may be unaware of this fundamental change to Maryland's voting experience.

Here's how it works: Forty-six early voting centers will open across the state shortly before the primary and general elections. Most jurisdictions will only have one center. But Howard County will have three, and Baltimore City and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties will each have five.

When an elected official decides not to run for re-election, the field is left wide open for others to step up for the job.

That well-known scenario is present in the Prince George's County Executive race after the exodus of Jack Johnson, who is returning to the private sector after his eight-year stint in the post.

PRINCE GEORGE'S County prosecutors have botched an embarrassing number of high-profile cases in recent years. In a particularly mortifying one two years ago, the jury in a first-degree murder trial aquitted a defendant who acted as his own attorney. Still, given the office's rock-bottom salaries, severe shortage of lawyers and crushing caseloads, it's a wonder that prosecutors haven't fumbled more often. Credit Glenn Ivey, the level-headed state's attorney in Prince George's for the past eight years, with doing a fair job under daunting conditions.

Mr. Ivey's planned departure has triggered a scramble to succeed him among five candidates in the Democratic primary on Sept. 14. The winner will oversee 75 prosecutors and thousands of criminal cases each year. (No Republicans are seeking the job.) The best of the bunch is Angela Alsobrooks, who combines prosecutorial experience, management skill, intellectual agility and deft political instincts. She will need all that to improve a struggling office.

Republicans plan to challenge for state, county positions

Republican Fiona Moodie, who turned 18 this month, of Bowie plans to not only cast her first vote this year, but also make her first run for not one but two offices.

She's running for the Prince George's County Council seat in District 4 and for one of two Republican Central Committee seats in District 23.

Valderrama to maintain focus on child advocacy, education funding

Seeking to continue shining a light on issues plaguing children throughout the state, Del. Kris Valderrama (D) of Fort Washington has announced her bid for reelection to the Maryland House of Delegates District 26 seat.

Valderrama, who sits on the House Judiciary Committee, said she plans to push for child protection laws, create more policies to limit the use of SWAT teams in the state and secure more funding for education for Prince George's County schools.

District 26 includes Oxon Hill, Fort Washington, Temple Hills and Camp Springs. Primaries are set for Sept. 14, and the general election is Nov. 2.

Childs' priorities include public safety, economic development

When Angela Childs' father, James Childs, opened his Washington, D.C., home and his dinner table to the homeless and family members on hard luck, a young Angela took her father's mission to serve to heart.

"Giving back was just something that we did," said Angela Childs, one of five children, of her childhood. "It was just instilled in us."

Candidates for county executive are paying more attention to the needs of Prince George's nonprofits, which means advocacy efforts are paying off, say leaders of those groups.

At a meeting of the Greater Prince George's Business Roundtable in Bowie last week, Del. Gerron S. Levi (D-Dist. 23A) emphasized the importance of building capacity among nonprofits, as well as small businesses, calling nonprofits a valuable ally for securing state and federal dollars.

The September 14th Democratic primary could dramatically change Prince George's County's current trajectory of lagging behind the region on job growth, Metro station area development, and quality public schools. Or, with poor choices, it will get more of the same, just with new faces.

There are five hopefuls vying for Prince George's County executive, but political observers say the concerns about each raise questions about the level of quality of those running for office.

"What is wrong with Prince George's County? Why are we so willing to accept such inferior candidates?" asked Judy Robinson, a political activist.

Branding herself with the scarlet letter "R," Holly Ellison Henderson, the lone Republican candidate in the race for District 26 House of Delegates, said she is bent on improving the community and reaching across party lines.

Henderson, 35, was born in Cheverly before moving with her family to Florida, and then moved back to Prince George's County from Harford County in January with her husband and 3-year-old son.

A nonprofit once headed by Prince George's County executive candidate Rushern L. Baker III is under state investigation for failing to disclose its finances for several consecutive years, the Washington Examiner reported Wednesday.

The paper writes that Baker's group, "Community Teachers Institute Inc., is in violation of a state law requiring nonprofits to submit financial information annually, according to the Maryland Secretary of State's Office. The nonprofit was running a nearly $500,000 deficit in 2006, the latest financial documentation on file with the state indicates.

I had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Wright and have a wide ranging conversation. I am open to similar invitations from any candidate running for any office in Prince George's County.

Joseph L. Wright is running to be the next State's Attorney in Prince George's County. I had a 90 minute opportunity to speak with him and to get to know him. He now lives in the same community where he gre up giving him a good foundation for understanding the issues facing the county today. His life in the county and his connections to its people are strong indicators of his principled dedication to a better county. Knowledgeable about history, committed to the law, and aware of current social challenges, Mr. Wright is very personable and a skillful conversationalist so much so that I thought I was being interviewed at first.