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Related: Harris calls Kratovil a ‘Prince George’s machine Democrat’ and Kratovil calls notion he’s a liberal ‘ridiculous,’ refers to Harris as ‘an extremist’

Three good reasons -- and three not so good reasons -- why Frank Kratovil's got a steeper climb than Travis Childers did.

Esteemed political observer Stu Rothenberg made his latest
assessment of competitive House races on Friday.

Despite others' opinions, he considers the contest in the First District is not among the 63 seats "considered to be at limited risk for the incumbent party."

In other words, he thinks it'll be a snoozer.

Questions have come up about First District Republican Andy Harris’ $20,000 self-loan to his campaign on March 31, the last day of the reporting period.

CQ Politics has changed its rating on the First District House race from "Safe Republican" to "Republican Favored," meaning "there is at least a slight and feasible chance of an upset" by Democrat Frank Kratovil.

The Cook Political Report has listed the seat as "Likely Republican" -- "seats are not considered competitive at this point but have the potential to become engaged" -- since Republican Andy Harris defeated Rep. Wayne Gilchrest in the primary.

Due to an error, First District Democratic nominee Frank Kratovil will be amending his first quarter Federal Election Commission reports to reflect approximately $30,000 less in cash on hand.

The campaign's Saturday filing showed him with $214,563.56 cash on hand when that number is actually closer to $182,000, campaign sources tell PolitickerMD.com.

"We are pleased with the campaign's end-of-quarter numbers," Kratovil communications director Erik Gulbrandsen said in an e-mail, adding they feel "on track to wage a competitive campaign."

Republican nominee Andy Harris' camp says it took in $401,000 last quarter, ending with $202,000 cash on hand.

The campaign of First District Republican Andy Harris reports it finished the first quarter of 2008 in good financial standing, outraising his Democratic opponent Frank Kratovil by a margin of more than 2 to 1. Meanwhile, the two candidates find themselves practically even in cash on hand some seven months before the general election.

In the just under 10 weeks of the Federal Election Commission’s first financial quarter ending March 31, Harris took in $401,168.22, finishing with $204,325.84 cash on hand.

Kratovil raised $189,713.87 according to FEC reports filed on Saturday, ending the quarter with $214,563.56 cash on hand.

But as Kratovil only spent $90,000 in the last weeks before the Feb. 12 primary, Harris burned through $570,000 at the end of his campaign to knock off nine-term incumbent Rep. Wayne Gilchrest and the million-dollar campaign of state Sen. E.J. Pipkin. More ...

NEW on PolitickerMD.com: Kratovil amending reports to reflect less cash on hand