Corridor Power

1.4 million voters strong.

By Amrit Dhillon

Illustrations By Dennis Oakes

     Size matters.

     And when it comes to voting in Maryland, the Baltimore-Washington Corridor might leave some jurisdictions a little envious.

     “The power of the Baltimore-Washington Corridor’s vote is essential for this year’s election and the future of Maryland,” said Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.

     The Corridor counties — Anne Arundel, Howard, Montgomery and Prince George’s — accounted for 1.4 million, or 45.4 percent of the state’s registered voters as of July, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections. Given its population, the wealth and education of its residents and the close proximity of the counties, the Corridor has a political strength all its own.

     “The bulk of the votes are in the Baltimore-Washington Corridor,” said James G. Gimpel, a professor of government at the University of Maryland, College Park. “It’s pretty simple calculus. You have to go where the votes are.”

     Both incumbents and rookies alike heed that advice, making the Corridor counties a priority stop on the campaign trail.

     “My campaign for re-election paid particular attention to the Baltimore-Washington Corridor,” said William Donald Schaefer, who as state comptroller and former governor of Maryland has decades of campaign experience in Maryland, despite being unseated in the primary last month. “The counties in the Corridor represent a significant portion of Maryland’s population and tend to be a major political battleground in any election. We focused much of our efforts, including TV, radio, print, and direct campaigning, in this area.”

     Candidates don’t just campaign in the Corridor; they also set up shop, with headquarters and field offices located in Anne Arundel, Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.

     Gubernatorial candidate Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley, along with Senate candidates Ben Cardin and Michael Steele, have offices in the Corridor. Senate candidates Josh Rales, Allan Lichtman and Kweisi Mfume all had campaign headquarters in the Corridor prior to losing their bids for office in the primary.

     “The Corridor has a tremendous energy and capacity for our message,” said O’Malley, whose running mate, Anthony G. Brown is a Prince George’s County

delegate.

     “We’re campaigning in every jurisdiction, but specifically in the Corridor because of [its] electoral prowess,” added Hari Sevugan, O’Malley’s communications director.

     That was clear in last month’s primary, with Corridor counties having a significant impact on several races.

     Comptroller candidate Peter Franchot won the Democratic nomination by sweeping Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties, which accounted for about 52 percent of his votes.

     Douglas F. Gansler, the new Democratic nominee for attorney general, received nearly 57 percent of his votes from the four counties in the Corridor compared to 42 percent for his opponent, Stuart O. Simms.

     In the race to win, the cost of campaigning has risen significantly over the years, forcing candidates to spend more time and effort raising money, said Gimpel. Soliciting and giving funds is just another form of political participation, he said.

     The capacity to raise money is made easier by the affluence in the Corridor. The average mean household income is $95,271, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey.

     Six of the top 10 areas for campaign contributions in Maryland are Corridor zip codes, reported the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan, Washington, D.C.-based non-profit research group that tracks money in politics.

     In Montgomery County and in Annapolis, over $11.9 million had been raised for federal candidates, parties and political action committees as of the August filing deadline for declaring campaign funds, reported the center. The top five zip codes are in Potomac, Chevy Chase and Bethesda, with each bringing in more than a million dollars.

      “The campaign for money follows the distribution of wealth, not party support,” said Gimpel.

     He admitted Montgomery County probably gives a bit more money to Democrats but added that Republicans “spend a lot of time on the west side of Montgomery County too.”

     For the record, the Corridor is home to 47 percent of the state’s registered Democrats and 38.7 percent of the registered Republicans, according to the board of elections.

     “Candidates go to people with extensive social networks,” Gimpel said. “It’s hard to turn down friends who ask, especially if you have the money.”

     Population and wealth were not always concentrated in the Corridor. Until the 1950s, money and power were located in Baltimore City, said George H. Callcott, retired professor emeritus of history at the University of Maryland, College Park.

     In 1920, about 51 percent of the state’s population resided in Baltimore City, he said. In 2005, it was roughly 11 percent, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey estimate.

     However, Baltimore City and Baltimore County remain critical hubs today, with a combined 772,071 registered voters, according to the board of elections.

     “There were huge changes with the decline of the city and the rise of the suburbs,” Callcott said. “The change in wealth was larger than the change in population and the decision makers moved from Washington to Montgomery County and from Baltimore City to Baltimore County.”

      Today, the total population in the Corridor is over 2.5 million or 45.9 percent of the state’s total population, according to the 2005 American Community Survey.

     Not only are Corridor voters wealthy and willing to give, but they are highly educated. An average of 90.2 percent of residents over age 25 have at least a high school diploma, with an average of 44.4 percent holding a bachelor’s degree or higher, the Census Bureau’s report said.

     The Corridor voters are among the most powerful because of high turnout and because they are educated, said Matthew Crenson, a professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University.

     “Also, there are lots of government workers who tend to be politically attentive,” he said.

     There are more than 317,000 government workers in the Corridor, with the majority residing in Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties.

     These two counties are also the largest Democratic jurisdictions in Maryland, which means they have a significant number of local representatives in leadership positions in the Maryland General Assembly, said Kumar P. Barve, House majority leader.

     While the cumulative voting power of the Corridor can only be felt in statewide races, roles in the Maryland General Assembly reinforce the political strength of the Corridor.

     Currently, legislators from the Corridor occupy 67 of 141 House seats and 23 of 47 Senate seats.

     But positions of leadership in any legislature are distributed on the basis of three facts: party affiliation, geographical balance and the personal qualities of the individual, said Barve, who represents Montgomery County.

     There are 17 of 35 leadership positions in the Maryland House and six of 11 leadership positions in the Senate, including the coveted speaker of the House and president of the Senate, held by delegates and senators from the Corridor counties.

     “It’s an easy campaign package,” said Crenson. “You can run from Baltimore County to the D.C. border. It’s geographically compact — an area politicians can focus on.”

     Crenson contrasts campaigning in the Corridor to Western Maryland, where he says people in Garrett County “root for the Pittsburgh Pirates — that’s how far away they are.”

     Gimpel said the fundamental problem is that “there aren’t enough people in the pockets around the state.”

     The bulk of the votes really are between Baltimore and Washington, he said.  <