Gov. Martin O'Malley will launch his reelection bid a week from Tuesday with three events – one in each of the state's major democratic strongholds.
The governor starts in Baltimore at noon on April 27. Next he'll be in Lt. Governor Anthony Brown's home territory with a speech at Prince George's County Community College. The final stop will be a "less formal" event in Rockville's Woodlea Park, said campaign manager Tom Russell.
"It was the time for us to do an official kick-off," explained Russell. "We just finished what I think was a very successful legislative session. We're excited to get into the campaign season."
Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich announced last month that he wants his old job back, and kicked off his campaign with events in Rockville and Baltimore County. The Sun's Julie Bykowicz wrote about it here.
Russell said that the O'Malley will "be talking about the tough decisions he's had to make over the last three years" and "how those decisions have helped move the state forward." We wrote about some of those issues in today's Baltimore Sun.
Four years ago O'Malley trounced Ehrlich the three counties where he is scheduled to hold events. Results were: Baltimore (115,136 to 34,554); Prince George's County (162,899 to 42,514) and Montgomery (190,873 to 112,071).
After making those three stops, O'Malley will travel to some redder parts of the state, with events Wednesday April 28 and Thursday April 29 in Hagerstown, Frederick, Columbia, Catonsville, Annapolis, Cambridge, Aberdeen and Waldorf. Over three days, the governor expects to be in 11 counties, Russell said.
As a fun campaign fact: Ehrlich beat O'Malley in 19 of the state's 24 jurisdictions. Relive the last campaign at this fun part of Maryland's Board of Elections website.