Lauren Dugas Glover

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama: Photo by Getty ImagesMaryland Democratic Party Chairman Michael Cryor told PolitickerMD.com today that he hopes his decision to publicly endorse Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) will "sway" other superdelegates to the same conclusion. Cryor and state party Vice Chairwoman Lauren Dugas Glover, also a superdelegate, announced their endorsement for Obama yesterday at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Cryor, who has privately been an Obama supporter for some time, said he and Dugas Glover "committed to not endorsing until we had set aside all our requirements as a party."

The Maryland Democratic Central Committee finalized the state's delegation to the Democratic National Convention on Saturday.

"I thought it was important to do now," Cryor said, citing the completion of the delegation, the fact that the Maryland primary has long since passed, the importance of today's primaries in Indiana and North Carolina and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean's encouragement of superdelegates to make a decision.

Michael CryorState Democratic Party Chairman Michael Cryor and Vice Chairwoman Lauren Dugas Glover, both superdelegates, are endorsing Illinois Senator Barack Obama this afternoon, sources tell PolitickerMD.com.

Those close to Cryor have said he has been an Obama supporter for some time, but wished to remain neutral to help broker between dissenting factions within the state party.

After their endorsement, only 10 Maryland Democratic superdelegates will remain undecided. New York Sen. Hillary Clinton will have 11 while Obama will have 8.

Lauren Dugas GloverFormer Gov. Parris Glendening, who was selected as an add-on delegate to the Democratic National Committee Convention on Saturday, endorsed Obama over the weekend. He is also set to attend the endorsement press conference in College Park at 2:30 p.m.

Of the 99 voting members of the Maryland delegation, Obama has 50, Clinton has 39, and 10 remain unknown.

As the ‘Phantom 50’ seems to have been a myth all along, but Mark Halperin is speculating Obama – and maybe even Clinton – will announce several new superdelegate supporters today.