2010 United States Senate election in Maryland explained

See main article: 2010 United States Senate elections.

Election Name:2010 United States Senate election in Maryland
Country:Maryland
Type:presidential
Ongoing:no
Previous Election:2004 United States Senate election in Maryland
Previous Year:2004
Next Election:2016 United States Senate election in Maryland
Next Year:2016
Election Date:November 2, 2010
Image1:Barbara Mikulski official portrait c. 2011.jpg
Nominee1:Barbara Mikulski
Party1:Democratic Party (United States)
Popular Vote1:1,140,531
Percentage1:62.19%
Nominee2:Eric Wargotz
Party2:Republican Party (United States)
Popular Vote2:655,666
Percentage2:35.75%
Map Size:300px
U.S. Senator
Before Election:Barbara Mikulski
Before Party:Democratic Party (United States)
After Election:Barbara Mikulski
After Party:Democratic Party (United States)

The 2010 United States Senate election in Maryland was held on November 2, 2010. Primary elections were held on September 14, 2010. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski won re-election to a fifth term.

According to The Baltimore Sun columnist David Nitkin, Mikulski had indicated she planned to seek re-election to a fifth term. If Mikulski were to win re-election and serve the full term, she would tie Paul Sarbanes as the longest-serving senator in state history, and also becoming the longest-serving female senator in history, turning 80 years old in the process.[1] On February 15, 2010, rumors began to circulate that Mikulski would not seek reelection; however, these were denied by Democratic sources soon after.[2] [3]

She previously won senate elections in 1986, 1992, 1998, and 2004 by margins of 21, 42, 41 and 31 percentage points, respectively. Additionally, in the general election, state parties were expected to focus much of their attention on the seats of Governor Martin O'Malley and first-term Congressman Frank Kratovil, the latter of whom won a surprise victory in a conservative district of the state.[1] Nitkin[1] and Larry Sabato's Crystal Ball[4] considered her seat as overwhelmingly "safe."

Republican primary

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Results

General election

Candidates

Major

Minor

Campaign

Wargotz released two television ads, in the first he created and introduced the term "insidersaurus": comparing Mikulski to a dinosaur by calling her a political "insidersaurus" [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] being in Washington for over thirty years (a long-term political incumbent.) A second ad showed a hammer hitting a brick wall, breaking it down and citing criticisms of Mikulski's record as a U.S. Senator. Mikulski released advertisements emphasizing education and job creation.[11]

Despite Wargotz's limited campaign and resources he received the highest percentage of votes against Mikulski as an incumbent U.S. Senator (over 20 years.)

Debates

Despite repeated requests by the Wargotz Campaign formal debate was declined by the incumbent U.S. Senator Mikulski. The two candidates did appear together on Maryland Public Television (MPT) fielding common questions posed to both by the moderator but no formal debate was held.

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
Cook Political Report[12] October 26, 2010
Rothenberg[13] October 22, 2010
RealClearPolitics[14] October 26, 2010
Sabato's Crystal Ball[15] October 21, 2010
CQ Politics[16] October 26, 2010

Polling

Poll sourceBarbara
Mikulski (D)
Eric
Wargotz (R)
OtherUndecided
Rasmussen Reports (report)July 8, 2010500± 4.5%58%33%2%7%
Public Policy Polling (report)July 10–12, 2010569± 4.1%59%27%––14%
Rasmussen Reports (report)August 20, 2010750± 4.0%55%39%3%3%
Rasmussen Reports (report)September 15, 2010750± 4.0%54%38%4%4%
Gonzales Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (report)October 11–16, 2010816± 3.5%55%38%––7%
Baltimore Sun/OpinionWorks (report)October 15–20, 2010798± 3.5%59%32%––8%
Rasmussen Reports (report)October 24, 2010750± 4.0%56%38%2%4%

Fundraising

Candidate (party)ReceiptsDisbursementsCash on handDebtCash minus debt
Barbara Mikulski (D)$3,690,724$2,792,437$1,772,774$0$1,772,774
Eric Wargotz (R)$1,210,327$743,392$466,931$459,600$-7331.
Source: Federal Election Commission[17]

Results

Results by county

County! colspan="2"
Barbara A. MikulskiDemocraticEric WargotzRepublicanKennis HenryGreenRichard ShawverConstitutionOtherOtherMarginTotalVotes

Cast

%%%%%%
Allegany963944.60%1135052.52%2881.33%3191.48%160.07%-1711-7.92%21612
Anne Arundel10251151.17%9299446.42%27661.38%18680.93%2140.11%95174.75%200353
Baltimore (City)13831286.59%1833611.48%20941.31%8310.52%1670.10%11997675.11%159740
Baltimore (County)16567858.27%11267039.62%34261.20%22330.79%3430.12%5300818.64%284350
Calvert1524748.44%1556949.46%3641.16%2750.87%210.07%-322-1.02%31476
Caroline450845.46%514251.86%1201.21%1271.28%190.19%-634-6.39%9916
Carroll2163234.38%3931262.48%8341.33%10401.65%1010.16%-17680-28.10%62919
Cecil1313244.22%1560052.53%4431.49%4851.63%400.13%-2468-8.31%29700
Charles3010664.88%1559833.62%3480.75%3210.69%280.06%1450831.27%46401
Dorchester648155.96%491042.39%990.85%870.75%50.04%157113.56%11582
Frederick3491346.67%3801350.81%8761.17%9051.21%1070.14%-3100-4.14%74814
Garrett336135.76%575061.17%1171.24%1641.74%80.09%-2389-25.41%9400
Harford4071243.50%5051353.98%10821.16%11711.25%1060.11%-9801-10.47%93584
Howard6373859.71%4085338.27%12391.16%7940.74%1250.12%2288521.44%106749
Kent454956.04%340541.95%811.00%740.91%80.10%114414.09%8117
Montgomery20400570.67%7958227.57%33531.16%13930.48%3510.12%12442343.10%288684
Prince George's20444189.11%226079.85%14720.64%7520.33%1640.07%18183479.25%229436
Queen Anne's857543.64%1056153.75%1950.99%2841.45%350.18%-1986-10.11%19650
St. Mary's1466946.86%1591150.83%3201.02%3771.20%260.08%-1242-3.97%31303
Somerset408253.98%336344.47%480.63%670.89%20.03%7199.51%7562
Talbot796849.28%794649.15%1470.91%950.59%120.07%220.14%16168
Washington1735643.71%2087352.57%5791.46%6531.64%2470.62%-3517-8.86%39708
Wicomico1466849.88%1418948.25%2430.83%2780.95%300.10%4791.63%29408
Worcester1024848.28%1061950.03%1830.86%1530.72%230.11%-371-1.75%21226
Total114053162.19%65566635.75%207171.13%147460.80%21980.12%48486526.44%1833858

Counties that flipped from Democrat to Republican

See also

External links

Official campaign sites

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nitkin . David . Smooth sailing for Mikulski . January 9, 2009 . Maryland Politics Blog . . November 12, 2008.
  2. Web site: Let's Get Real: Barbara Mikulski Does Not Fear a Loss This Year. . https://archive.today/20120707044520/http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTdmOWJmZGQ2ZGJiZDhkNzI3NjFiODczMDY5NTRkZjQ . dead . July 7, 2012 . February 15, 2010 . February 16, 2010 . . Jim . Geraghty . Jim Geraghty .
  3. News: Mikulski another Dem retirement? Not likely. . February 16, 2010 . February 16, 2010 . The Washington Post . Lee . Hockstader.
  4. News: Senate 2010: A three-peat for Democrats or Comeback for the GOP? . February 19, 2009 . Crystal Ball . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100107165948/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/article.php?id=LJS2009021901 . January 7, 2010 .
  5. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-09-29/news/bs-md-green-senate-henry-20100929_1_bicycle-safety-green-party-bicycle-lanes Natasha Pettigrew – Mother to replace Green Party nominee for Senate – Baltimore Sun
  6. Web site: 'Insidersaurus'. Politico. September 2010 .
  7. Web site: Political Insidersaurus:Eric Wargotz on the Hunt. YouTube.
  8. Web site: Senate Candidate Runs on Dinosaur Metaphor. The Atlantic. September 2, 2010.
  9. Web site: MD-Sen: Wargotz Hits Mikulski for Being A "Political Insidersaurus" | RealClearPolitics.
  10. Web site: Eric Wargotz - Political Insidersaurus is FoxNews Ad of the Day. YouTube.
  11. News: Mikulski leads despite drop in popularity . The Washington Post . Ben . Pershing . Kyle . Dropp . October 4, 2010.
  12. Web site: Senate . . October 26, 2010.
  13. Web site: Senate Ratings . . October 26, 2010.
  14. Web site: Battle for the Senate . . October 26, 2010.
  15. Web site: 2010 Senate Ratings . . October 26, 2010 . October 28, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20101028092918/http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/articles/category/2010-senate/ . dead .
  16. Web site: Race Ratings Chart: Senate . . October 26, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20101028234525/http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-senate . October 28, 2010 .
  17. Web site: 2010 House and Senate Campaign Finance for Maryland . fec.gov . May 1, 2010 .