Party Performance in the Central and Lower Eastern Shore

Today we’ll look at election results in six counties in the Central and Lower Eastern Shore.

Caroline County
0.5% of Registered Voters (22nd)
Solid Republican


The entire statehouse delegation and County Commission are Republicans. Enough said.

Talbot County
0.7% of Registered Voters (19th)
Leans Republican


Historically, the statehouse delegation went Republican and the Democrats captured a majority of county government seats. This year, the Democrats lost both. One more election like this and Talbot might have to be rated Solid Republican.

Dorchester County
0.6% of Registered Voters (20th)
Split


Dorchester usually sends Republicans to the statehouse and Democrats to the county government. Democrats had a good year in 2010 despite the GOP’s wave, but it’s too soon to say that the county leans in their favor. Like Kent County, Dorchester voted for Ehrlich, Mikulski and Kratovil.

Somerset County
0.4% of Registered Voters (23rd)
Split


Republican candidates do better at the top of the ticket and Democrats do better for county offices. In the last three cycles, the Democrats had 8-5 margins for county seats. Somerset is another county that voted for Ehrlich, Mikulski and Kratovil.

Wicomico County
1.6% of Registered Voters (15th)
Leans Republican


Most Republicans win here, but the success of a few prominent Democrats like County Executive Rick Pollitt and Delegates Norman Conway and Rudolph Cane prevent us from classifying this jurisdiction as Solid Republican.

Worcester County
1.0% of Registered Voters (17th)
Leans Republican


Like several other Eastern Shore counties, Worcester has tended to vote for Republicans for state office and Democrats for county office. But this year, the GOP won five of seven County Commission seats and voters supported both Eric Wargotz and Andy Harris. That puts Worcester in the Republicans’ corner for now.

We’ll summarize all of our results tomorrow.