Wynn pledges to work with Edwards for good of district

LANHAM - It’s usually not a sign of coming revelry when the partygoer to reporter ratio is 1-1, or roughly what it was at various times in the IBEW building in Lanham on Tuesday night, before many of the stragglers spilled out around 11:30, leaving U.S. Rep. Albert Wynn to finally sink under the challenge of Donna Edwards.

"I just called Donna and extended my congratulations on a successful run," the freshly defeated 4th District Congressman told those supporters who remained. "This is our community, and our district, and we have to work together to make it the very best. Thank you and God bless you all. I know you guys need some sleep, so grab something to eat and get some rest."

Wynn projected friendly, good-hearted resignation as he stood at a podium overlooking the hall and thanked his wife and their friends. "We’ve had a good run," said the congressman. "We accomplished a lot of good things... I told Donna I’m going to be cooperative for our district."

He then descended into the small crowd of supporters and embraced them and shook their hands one by one.

"There’s always tomorrow," said a smiling Wynn, who Tuesday trailed his rival, 59-37% with 50% of the votes counted.

Thus came to an end eight consecutive terms of congressional service, in a big, high-ceilinged union hall which was grandly decked out with "Wynn for Congress" signs and largely empty of people, but for clusters of media types and several fast-sagging groups of supporters wearing "Wynn for Congress" T-shirts.

"Donna’s an exceptional candidate," said disappointed Wynn backer J. Darrell Carrington as he came out of an embrace with the vanquished representative. "But this is a loss. What we have been able to get in terms of dollars for the district, with Steny Hoyer, Chris Van Hollen and the congressman here - a senior regional whip - has given us enormous credibility. Given the reality of seniority and how it works in Congress, I’m fearful it will be several years before we’ll be able to win that back."

There were grim faces, too, among the core of electrical workers whose support Wynn was proud to cultivate, along with the teachers’ unions.

But even though he boasts a pro-labor voting record in the 90th percentile, not all of the unions would have agreed to welcome him as warmly as did IBEW business manager Chuck Graham did on Election Day.

The SEIU dumped $1 million in advertising against him for Edwards, and on that score and others there was some bitterness among the Wynn diehards, fuming over what they saw as their antagonists’ persistent and unfair criticism of Wynn on his Iraq War vote, his stance on redistricting, the state tax and his thumbs up for a consumer-unfriendly bankruptcy law backed by President George W. Bush..

"Most people in my district wanted to kill the congressman without knowing the facts," said party volunteer Paschal Agubuzor, looking on as the early numbers scrolling across the bottom of a FOX News broadcast showed Edwards in the lead by double digits before a cutaway of people screaming happily four miles away in the Edwards camp further darkened the mood here.

"Another thing that Donna Edwards tried to run on the last time - and she was successful at it, even though she didn’t win last time, was criticizing Al for not going to events," said stalwart Wynn-backer Gerry Pasternack. "They tried to do the same thing again this time, but it wasn’t true. Al worked his butt off these last two years. Every time I turned around I saw him at a function somewhere."

A former member of the General Assembly who was first elected to Congress in 1992, Wynn is a Prince George’s County product who was able to consistently win by going to his home county roots. Even though he lost the district’s other county - Montgomery - by a 2-1 margin in 2006, he was able to beat Edwards in their first showdown by outpacing her in Prince George’s.

Pasternack tonight speculated that Edwards’ victory was spurred by her success this time of being able to chew into Wynn’s base of support.

"She’s winning Montgomery County right now by 6,800 votes with 30 precincts reporting," said Pasternack as he worked his handheld in the minutes before 11 p.m. "She’s also beating him in Prince George’s County as of right now, 35-32%. Now that’s really difficult to gauge, because I don’t know which precincts those are, and whether they’re those precincts where Al is usually strong. But it’s not good news that she’s beating him in Prince George’s, no matter how early it is."

Nearly an hour later, Wynn delivered his concession speech.