Frank Kratovil

State's Attorney Frank KratovilKratovil Campaign Manager Tim McCann dismissed the results of a Harris campaign internal poll which showed Harris carrying a sizeable lead in the 1st Congressional District.

The poll showed state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) with a 16 point lead over State's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville).

“As Andy’s campaign manger himself said a few months back, ‘Internal polls can be skewed one way or the other.’ Our internal numbers paint a different picture so I'm not particularly worried about this small-sample poll,” wrote McCann in an email to PolitickerMD.com.

Ask and you shall receive.

44% To 28%; 27% Undecided

Andy Harris: Campaign Photo

A new internal campaign poll, obtained by PolitickerMD.com, shows state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) with a 16-point lead over his opponent, state's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) in Maryland's 1st Congressional District.

44.3 percent of those polled by the Harris campaign said they will or are likely to vote for Harris, while 28.3 percent said the same of Kratovil. Another 27.3 percent remain undecided.

This survey of 300 registered voters was conducted just over a week ago on July 15, and has a margin of error of 5.65 percent. The results show Kratovil's support eroding from his campaign's April poll in which he trailed Harris by only nine points, 43 percent to 34 percent with 23 percent undecided.

Yesterday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee dropped another $18 million on 20 House races.

While this push mostly included those who had been passed over for the $35 million ad-buy, yet again, First district Democrat Frank Kratovil – the would-be delegation-mate of the powerful DCCC Chair Chris Van Hollen and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer – was not selected.

U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): Getty ImagesThe Maryland Republican Party welcomed John McCain to the Free State on Tuesday as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee heads to town for a fundraiser in Baltimore on Tuesday evening. Prior to praising McCain, the MDGOP took the opportunity to take a crack at some of its Democratic rivals.

“Senator Ben Cardin, Congressman Elijah Cummings, and Attorney General Doug Gansler were among the politicians present at a ‘Bash McCain’ press conference,” said MDGOP Chairman Jim Pelura in a statement. The three lawmakers attended a “McSame as Bush” news conference in Baltimore on Monday, in light of McCain’s visit to the state.

State Sen. Andy Harris: Campaign photoELKTON - The Cecil County Republican Central Committee held their annual chicken dinner on Monday at the Cecil Count Fair. Volunteering at the event was state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville), who helped serve chicken dinners to attendees.

Harris told PolitickerMD.com that events such as this helped lots with the campaign.

“People expect that they’re gonna see the person that they vote for congress and this is where ya meet ‘em - at the county fairs,” Harris said, after hours of serving food. “One hundred five days from now when they look back they say, ‘yeah I saw him. He was at the fair.’”

Harris pointed to extensive campaigning throughout the district to annotate his electability.

Despite his large reserve (for a freshman) in cash on hand, the campaign committee of John Sarbanes made few transfers to Democratic lawmakers around the country.

The Talbot County Democrats opened their new head quarters in downtown Easton on Saturday. Featured guests included state's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) and Maryland Attorney Gen. Doug Gansler. President of the Talbot County Democratic Forum, Catherine Poe, served as master of ceremonies.

According to Kratovil campaign manager Tim McCann: “The HQ is going to be used by the Talbot County Democrats for organizational meetings, as a staging point for canvassing and phone banking activities, and as a place where local residents can come for more information and materials about Democratic candidates.”

Gansler has been serving as Maryland’s attorney general since 2006 and serves as the state co-chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. Kratovil is currently competing for Maryland’s 1st Congressional District seat against state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville).

Documents filed with the Federal Elections Commission are shedding light on Maryland’s 1st Congressional District race, as state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) and state's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) both disclosed their quarterly finances.

The Kratovil campaign reported $356,838.55 in contributions in the second quarter and has $454,027.26 cash on hand. Kratovil raised $792,302.35 in total contributions to date for this election.

According to FEC reports, Harris ended with $431,550.58 in contributions during the second quarter reporting period and had $609,482.95 cash on hand. Harris raised $1,905,305.42 in total contributions to date for this election.

Harris also received more individual contributions than Kratovil did in the second quarter. Harris received donations from 509 individual donors in the second quarter, while Kratovil had 370 individual donors.

But, Harris also loaned his own campaign $100,000 in the second quarter and $122,000 to date.

In addition, Kratovil received more from within the state of Maryland than Harris. Eighty percent of Kratovil’s contributions for the quarter were from in-state donors, while Harris received 73 percent of his finances from within the state.

And what kinds of people donated money from Harris and Kratovil?

Navigating around easy obstacles (and a bit of flexibility with Route 50's speed limit) made it a good week for some, while the failure of the rubber to meet the road caused a couple of flat tires. 

Pull over to Maryland's Winners and Losers for July 18, 2008. CLICK HERE.