CUMBERLAND -- To hear House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. tell it, his House of Delegates race in the heart of Western Maryland is all but decided.
"I've done a substantial amount of polling," said a confident Taylor. "We're going to win this by 20 points."
But as a rigorous campaign season here winds to a close, he and his team aren't taking chances -- and perhaps for good reason.
Although Taylor, 67, describes his opponent as an "average" opponent, some of the Cumberland Democrat's supporters whisper about his challenger's growing success in winning voters.
"It's scaring me because you are gaining support," David Wallace, 60, a Cumberland resident who is a longtime Taylor supporter, said to LeRoy E. Myers Jr., as the candidate was handing out leaflets recently in the town's business district.
Taylor, the formidable speaker of the House and a Democrat whose tenure in the state legislature spans 28 years, is working hard this run to ensure that his Republican challenger, the owner of a family building contracting business in Clear Spring, does not snatch his long-held seat in the general election Nov. 5.
The race is critical to Democrats in an election year that has seen numerous upsets and retirements among the party's leadership throughout the legislature. For Republicans, the race is an opportunity to unseat a venerable Democratic leader who is known for being a consensus builder in his party.
With support from labor unions and others during the past few days, the Taylor campaign launched a new wave of literature as well as rounds of telephone calls to urge voters to support him for the District 1C delegate seat that includes Allegany County and part of Washington County.
This once-bustling steel, tire and glass manufacturing town in the Appalachian Mountains remains the population center of the district and Taylor's base of support. It's the place where Myers, 50, must make some inroads if he is to seriously compete against Taylor.
The challenge comes as residents in Allegany County, the core of Taylor's base, want more jobs in the area so they won't have to travel to other Maryland counties or to neighboring Pennsylvania or West Virginia for good jobs. They want more money for schools in a county that has not seen a new elementary or secondary education building in decades. And they want the kind of economic boost in their beloved Cumberland that has revived such other Western Maryland cities as Hagerstown and Frederick.
Cumberland Mayor Lee Fiedler, a Republican, and other political leaders in the area say they support Taylor and believe he is the person who can garner the money they need from Annapolis because of his position as speaker of the House. Having a speaker of the House from Western Maryland won't likely happen again for years, if ever, Fiedler and others said.
"It's absolutely key that we keep the speaker of the House," Fiedler said. "I support him as a Republican. I support him as mayor. If you have the right person, party doesn't matter."
Sitting in his district legislative office in downtown Cumberland, where the walls are lined with dozens of awards and citations, Taylor mentioned the longtime bipartisan support he has enjoyed during the past 28 years. He said support from Democrats and Republicans has kept him in office as a Democrat in overwhelmingly Republican Western Maryland, and he said he believes that backing will return him to the General Assembly.
"If I didn't get substantial Republican support, I would never have been able to stay in the legislature for 28 years," Taylor said. "I have never been challenged in my own party. That tells me that Democrats are very comfortable with me.
"In four of the eight elections, the Republicans didn't oppose me either," he said.
Taylor said he believes he would not have had a challenge in this election, if the Maryland Court of Appeals had not ruled Gov. Parris N. Glendening's redistricting map unconstitutional and decided to redraw the state's legislative districts. The new districts moved Myers into the district along with more Republicans, many of whom are strong Myers supporters.
Myers decided in January to run for the House of Delegates from a new district that appeared to have no other candidates. But the new redistricting plan forced Taylor into a race against Myers.
"We've advised this guy to get out of this race," Taylor said. "This guy who's running against me now never ran for anything in his life."
Taylor is running on a legacy that he has built during the past three decades. His achievements include Rocky Gap Lodge and Golf Resort that created 200 jobs near Cumberland, hundreds of jobs through state agencies he had established in the area, and support for the redevelopment of Cumberland's downtown business district.
Taylor also pushed for the successful passage of the landmark Thornton Commission legislation that would pump an extra $1.3 billion into Maryland's public schools by 2007. The support for Allegany County will be an important boost for the schools because it is one of the state's financially distressed jurisdictions.
"I think Cas deserves to be re-elected," Allegany County Commissioner Dale R. Lewis, a Republican, said during a recent gathering of local businessmen and politicians for the Allegany County Chamber of Commerce After Hours reception. "He's done a tremendous job. He brings home the bacon. He's our person."
As they dined on shrimp and roast beef, the Allegany County power brokers spoke only of Taylor.
"In the last four years, we have had $16 million in private and public investment downtown," said Ed Mullaney, Cumberland's downtown manager. "The speaker helped make that happen. We need that kind of support. Cumberland is an older city much like Baltimore."
Cumberland once had a strong economy and was known as a transportation hub that has served as home to several railroads and the western terminus for the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal.
The town is working to transform itself into a tourist destination to revive its economy.
Myers blames Taylor for the economic troubles in Cumberland. He said the talk of the power of Taylor's position as speaker does not seem to have helped revitalize the local economy enough to keep residents from traveling to other places for work.
"We need jobs in Allegany County so mom and dad can go to Johnny's soccer game after work," Myers said. "They've got to travel to Hagerstown in Washington County," an hour's drive on a good day.
"Good afternoon, ma'am," Myers says as he hands out brochures about his campaign to a woman in downtown Cumberland. "I'm running against Cas Taylor."
"I'll vote for you," responds Virginia Hiett, 80, of Cumberland. "He stopped us from getting our raise."
That was in 1985, when Hiett worked in the kitchen at Allegany County Nursing Home.
"Hi, I'm LeRoy Myers," Myers tells a woman who answers the door on a recent walk through Cumberland neighborhoods. "I'm running against Cas Taylor. I hope you will vote for me."
"I doubt that," the woman quickly responds. "He's my cousin," she says and politely closes the door.
"This door-to-door campaigning is humbling," Myers says as he continues through the neighborhood.
But it also can be rewarding, in particular for an underdog candidate.
"I believe Mr. Taylor had had time enough," Myers tells a couple that breaks away from their television set to answer the door.
For Myers, a native of Clear Spring and graduate of Hagerstown Community College, the political game is new. He owns and runs Myers Building Systems, a company he bought from his family in 1985. The business employs 40 people.
Whether the Washington County businessman can defeat an entrenched political leader remains to be seen. But one thing is clear, Myers is having an impact.
"It's nice to have some competition," said Sonya Cooper-Lathrop as Myers walked away from her front door.