Republican state Sen. Sandra B. Schrader held on to her seat by the narrowest of margins last night in a pivotal race for party control against veteran Councilman C. Vernon Gray.
Schrader was 2 percentage points ahead with all 40 precincts reporting, a difference of 732 votes. The race pitted Howard County's first female state senator against a man who would have been the county's first African-American in that office.
Schrader, who was appointed to her seat in January when Martin G. Madden resigned and had never run for office, faced a tough battle from Gray, a Columbia Democrat with 20 years' experience on the County Council who had never lost an election.
"I feel good; we ran a great campaign," said Gray, who held onto the thought that absentee ballots might still put him over the top.
Over the cheers of supporters last night, Schrader said: "We worked really hard and I'm just thrilled."
"It's kind of been a whirlwind," she said at lunchtime as she worked the polls. "It's been a fabulous year - I went from being a legislative aide to being the first woman senator [for Howard], and I'm still pinching myself."
Schrader's close victory helps maintain the balance of power in Howard; going into the election, Republicans held a majority in the state Senate delegation and the House was dominated by Democrats.
In other legislative races:
State Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer, a Columbia Democrat in District 12, appeared to have handily won his race against Republican novice Mike Sneeringer of Catonsville. Though Baltimore County's results were not in, Kasemeyer had 68 percent of the vote in Howard, with 23 of 24 precincts reporting.
Democrat incumbents Shane Pendergrass and Frank S. Turner and Democrat primary winner Neil F. Quinter seemed to have taken the three District 13 delegate seats. They had 21 percent, 19 percent and 17 percent of the vote respectively, compared with Republicans Bob Adams (15 percent), Mary Beth Tung (15 percent) and John Stafford (12 percent).
Republican Dels. Gail H. Bates and Robert L. Flanagan were re-elected in western Howard's heavily Republican District 9A; Bates had 33 percent of the vote and Flanagan took 34 percent, while Democrats Walter E. Carson and Tony McGuffin had 17 percent each.
Incumbent Del. James E. Malone Jr. and retired police officer Stephen J. DeBoy, both Democrats, appeared to be barely ahead in the two seats in District 12A. Though Baltimore County reported no results, Howard County tallies showed the two with a slight lead over novice Republicans Joe Hooe and Harry Korrell.
Republican Sen. Robert H. Kittleman (District 9) and Democrat Del. Elizabeth Bobo (District 12B) ran unopposed.
Sun staff writers Jason Song, Laura Cadiz and Kristin Sette contributed to this article.