Chris Meekins

PASADENA -- Republican Andy Harris said Sunday that his only fear going into Election Day is that conservatives won't turnout, but added having Barack Obama's name on the ballot would make that an unlikely scenario.

"I think given the fear over an Obama presidency, I think that's gonna turnout conservative voters," Harris told PolitickerMD.com at the Pasadena parade at Tick Neck Park. "They're not gonna vote for the Obama-Kratovil team."

Bob Ehrlich

PASADENA -- Former Gov. Bob Ehrlich (R-Baltimore) said Sunday that the outcome of the 1st Congressional District race would influence his decision to run for governor in 2010.

"It's an element. It's just one of many, but it is certainly relevant," Ehrlich told PolitickerMD.com at the Pasadena parade at Tick Neck Park.

Harris, a state Senator from Cockeysville, is currently running against Democrat Frank Kratovil for Maryland's 1st District seat. Ehrlich said this year's Democratic wave has impacted the race, but was confident Harris would prevail anyway. "I have private polling and I have Harris campaign polling ... obviously we're ahead," Ehrlich said. "It's closer than it otherwise would be because it's a tough year for Republicans."

Andy Harris

Republican Andy Harris's campaign says Democrat Frank Kratovil's relationships with some trial attorneys are a conflict of interest, but at least two of those attorney's are denying the allegations and one is threatening legal action in response.

Kratovil, the Queen Anne's County state's Attorney, and Harris, a state Senator from Cockeysville are currently engaged in a heated battle for Maryland's 1st Congressional District seat. The Harris campaign alleges that Kratovil dropped felony charges against one of attorney Peter O'Neill's clients, Lisa Birchfield, only after O'Neill held a fundraiser and donated $1,750 to Kratovil.

But O'Neill says Kratovil had "zero" involvement in the case and called the claims an "outright lie."

EASTON -- Congressional candidate Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) says he believes his campaign is tied with Republican Andy Harris's.

"The most recent ones showed us at 36, tied at 36," said Kratovil of Harris's camp at a Friday night fundraiser.

Kratovil was referencing an internal poll released last month by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"There was a rumor that he [Harris] did an internal one and it showed us even better than that," Kratovi told PolitickerMD.com. "But you know - that's rumors."

Kratovil 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.

State’s Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) is criticizing his MD-1 opponent’s commitment to protecting Ocean City’s beaches. The criticism comes just a day after state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) told a crowd at a fundraiser Tuesday to “just say no to earmarks.”

“Ocean City’s beaches are a billion-dollar economic engine that generate thousands of jobs for hard-working Maryland families,” said Kratovil in a statement.

State Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) announced his energy plan during a speech before the Salisbury Chamber of Commerce this afternoon. The GOP nominee in Maryland's 1st Congressional District, Harris, a physician, called his proposal a "prescription for the pain at the pump," pledging to "take the lead in fighting against these out of control gas prices."

"Working families should not be forced to decide whether to fill up the gas tank or put food on their table," Harris said.

The campaigns of State's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) and state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) reacted today to Wednesday's news that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has added Kratovil to their Red to Blue program.

"I think it is an indicator that the Kratovil campaign is doing the right things and national Democrats believe Frank can win," Erik Gulbrandsen, communications director for the Kratovil campaign, told PolitickerMD.com.

Kratovil was among 14 candidates added to the program yesterday. The DCCC provides financial, strategic, and communications support to those candidates on the list with the hope of putting Republican seats in the Democratic column.

Appearing as a guest on the Delmarva Today radio show June 13, State's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville), a Democrat running in the 1st Congressional District, expressed his opposition to lifting a federal ban on offshore oil drilling, calling instead for the country to use "what we have now."

Today, Kratovil Communications Director Erik Gulbrandsen told PolitickerMD.com that Kratovil supports two pieces of recently introduced congressional legislation, the Responsible Ownership of Public Lands Act and the Responsible Federal Oil and Gas Lease Act of 2008, which, according to House Democrats, would "compel oil companies to utilize the 68 million acres onshore and offshore that are being leased by big oil companies, but not used to produce energy."

Believe it or not, the last day of the first half of the year is only two weeks away. In this immensely exciting campaign year, we now stand only 140 days away from Election Day. The close of June signifies the end of the second financial quarter, and the fundraising totals in Maryland's 1st Congressional District are vital to the hopes of State's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) and state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville).

In the first quarter of the year Harris raised $401,168.22 and had $205,688 cash on hand, while Kratovil raised $189,713.87 and had $182,058 cash on hand. Those figures were slightly skewed because of a $20,000 loan that Harris provided to his campaign fund. Harris was forced to spend significantly more than Kratovil in the final weeks of his successful primary, which led to the similar cash on hand figure.

Recently, Kratovil told PolitickerMD.com that his campaign would make "no projections" as to their second quarter fundraising abilities, saying, "We'll raise enough to be competitive."