Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) ousted Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) in a close race and U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) defeated Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) in the race to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate.

O'Malley claimed victory shortly after midnight before cheering supporters in Baltimore. Cardin, at a separate celebration in the city, thanked his supporters shortly before 11 p.m.

Neither Steele nor Ehrlich immediately conceded defeat last night.

O'Malley, surrounded by his children, spoke to supporters at The Hippodrome in Baltimore. "God bless you Maryland," O'Malley said. "And for the working families of Maryland it is time to move Maryland forward again. Don't you think? We are going to make our government work again, right?"

O'Malley introduced his mother, Barbara, and paid tribute to his late father, Thomas. He said his father often told him, " 'Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but always you try and that is what God demands of us.' Dad, tonight we tried and tonight we won."

Ehrlich did not concede defeat and told supporters at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore "we just don't know, folks, we just don't know."

"We're going to overtime," he said. "We always win in overtimes, right?"

His supporters chanted "four more years" and Ehrlich responded: "Sounds good to me."

The congressman from the Baltimore area will fill the seat vacated by retiring Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D). With more than 80 percent of the precincts reporting, Cardin had 53.1 percent of the vote and Steele had 45.4 percent.

Cardin appeared before his supporters at the American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore shortly before 11:00 p.m. claiming victory and thanking voters who "have given me the opportunity to be their United States senator." Cardin said he would fight for affordable health care, education, fiscal responsibility and make a new policy in Iraq "priority number one."

"I am so humbled to have won this election," Cardin said.

Moments before Cardin claimed the seat, Steele addressed supporters at a hotel in Bowie, saying: "I am not giving up this fight."

"You have worked too hard . . . for us to slow this train down now just because some TV station wants to make a projection with one percent of the vote in. I just wanted to come down and let you know that I still have a lot of fight in me. They don't call me Steele for nothing."

The governor's race pitted incumbent Ehrlich, who became the state's first Republican governor in a generation, against O'Malley, the charismatic Baltimore mayor who spent the past seven years trying to revitalize the state's Maryland's largest city.

In the Senate race Ehrlich's lieutenant governor, Steele, relied on unconventional ads and his affable personality in his contest against Cardin, a Baltimore area congressman. Cardin tried to harness the widespread dissatisfaction over President Bush and the Iraq war as a way to power his campaign.

The election was marked by a large turnout and voting progressed relatively well compared with the chaotic September primary, in which electronic voting machine glitches and other problems infuriated many voters. A record high number of Marylanders requested absentee ballots for the general election.

The Associated Press reported that Maryland voters had chosen Peter V.R. Franchot (D), a state delegate from Takoma Park, for state comptroller over Anne M. McCarthy (R), the first woman dean of the University of Baltimore's business school. Franchot took an early lead over McCarthy, 56.9 percent to 43.0 percent, with three-quarters of precincts reporting.

In the attorney general race, the AP declared Douglas F. Gansler (D), the Montgomery County State's Attorney, the winner over Frederick County State's Attorney Scott L. Rolle (R). Gansler held an early lead 58.8 percent to Rolle's 41.2 percent, with three-quarters of precinct results.

Montgomery County voters also elected their first African American county executive, Isiah "Ike" Leggett (D), while in Prince George's the Republican Party did not field candidates for several top positions, ensuring county executive Jack B. Johnson another term.

The last days of the campaign were tense and raw as Democratic party leaders criticized Ehrlich and Steele for fliers that were apparently intended to trick voters into believing the two Republicans had been endorsed by three of the state's most respected African American leaders. On Election day Democrats found out that the Republican campaigns had bussed in poll workers from Philadelphia to pass out the misleading fliers at voting precincts in Prince George's County and Baltimore.

From the beginning of the governor's race, Ehrlich, the former congressmen, attempted to defend his base in the Baltimore area while attracting new voters from the Democratic-leaning Washington suburbs. O'Malley, meanwhile, tried to capitalize on his popularity beyond the borders of his city while courting the loyalty of Democratic voters in the populous Washington area.

Ehrlich tried to define the race as a referendum on the candidates' records, saying he had been an agent of change in Annapolis while Baltimore had languished under O'Malley's leadership. The governor used television advertisements highlighting crime and low-performing schools in Baltimore.

O'Malley, who consistently led in the polls until recent days, defended what he called a record of progress tackling urban woes and portrayed Ehrlich as out of touch with working-class families. He also emphasized Ehrlich's ties to Bush at a time when the Republican president's popularity is flagging.

The state's other premier race was the senate contest between Steele and Cardin to replace retiring Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D), who was first elected to public office 40 years ago.

Steele, the former chairman of the state GOP and the first African American elected to statewide office, campaigned on his charismatic personality and as an independent force who would stand up to both parties. His message was less about specific policies than about his desire to use government to "empower" people and provide "opportunities" for state residents.

Steele, with four years in elective office, faced an opponent who came to the race with a combined 40-years experience in Annapolis and Congress. Steele tried to cast Cardin as an insider out of touch with "real people" and a man who marched in step with the Washington politicians.

Cardin, who won the U.S. Senate nomination over former NAACP president Kweisi Mfume, tried to harness the widespread dissatisfaction over the Iraq war. In his commercials, mailings and appearances, Cardin reminded voters he "stood up to President Bush on the war" and reminded them that Steele had consistently supported the war. He informed potential voters that the president's allies recruited Steele to run for office and helped him raise campaign cash. Cardin also highlighted their differences on Social Security and health care.

Election day ushered in other new faces to replace legendary figures in Maryland politics. In addition to Sarbanes, Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D) is stepping down after 20 years in the post, and another fixture, Comptroller William Donald Schaefer (D), lost a bitter battle for reelection in the primary.

In the race for comptroller, Peter V.R. Franchot (D), a state delegate from Takoma Park, took on Anne M. McCarthy (R), the first woman dean of the University of Baltimore's business school. In the September primary, Franchot unexpectedly beat Schaefer, the former Baltimore mayor and two-term governor. McCarthy is a relative newcomer to the state and its politics.

In the attorney general race, Gansler ran to replace Curran by saying he would more aggressively fight environmental and white collar crime. His opponent, Rolle ran as a crime-fighter who would use the position to toughen laws for sex offenders and violent criminals.

Victories by Gansler and Franchot would give Montgomery County its first two candidates elected to statewide office since 1919.

"The Washington area is asserting itself with force by putting Ganlser and me in these important positions," Franchot, confident of victory, said before the polls closed. "There are going to be a lot less sarcastic comments about Montgomery County."

The frontrunner in the race for Montgomery County executive largely ignored his challengers after the September's primary, confident in his chances in a county where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1. Democratic party nominee Isiah "Ike" Leggett, a former four-term county council member, appeared on his way to victory.

But Republican Chuck Floyd, a former state department employee, and independent Robin Ficker, an anti-tax activist who served one term in the Maryland House of Delegates, campaigned aggressively to the end, hoping to loosen the Democratic Party's grip on the county.

The winner will become the county's first new county executive in 12 years, succeeding popular executive Douglas M. Duncan (D). Leggett, the former chairman of the state Democratic Party, would also be the county's first African-American executive.

The tight contest for Anne Arundel county executive featured Democrat George F. Johnson IV, a three-term county sheriff, and Republican John R. Leopold, a state delegate. Leopold surprised the political community with an easy primary win over four other candidates, illustrating his commanding popularity in his suburban-Baltimore district. Johnson easily defeated his lone primary opponent, former Annapolis Mayor Dennis Callahan.

In Prince George's County, most of the Democratic party's candidates ran unchallenged or faced only token opposition. The Republican Party did not field candidates for county executive, state's attorney, sheriff and seven out of nine County Council seats, leaving the leadership of the county in Democratic hands.

There were some reports of voting problems but nothing to rival the scope of the problems on primary day. Electronic voting machines at some precincts -- including polling places in Friendship Heights and at the Rock Creek Forest Elementary School in Chevy Chase -- had to be taken off line because they malfunctioned.

Some voters complained of "vote inversion," where a vote in favor of one candidate somehow was switched to another before the ballot was cast. Long lines lasting up to an hour or longer drove some voters away from the polls.

Democrats were angered by the appearance of more than six chartered buses filled with some 300 workers from Philadelphia who came to Prince George's County polling places in order to urge people to vote for Ehrlich and Steele. The workers said they were greeted by First Lady Kendel Ehrlich, who gave out t-shirts and baseball caps. One worker, Erik Markle, said he was told he would be paid $100, plus two meals for the day.

Ehrlich said he wasn't aware of the hiring of the workers from Philadelphia. "If folks are here from out of town that's fine with me. That's what the Democrats have always done. It's legal and it's what the Democrats have done forever. This is a story?" [MORE] and [MORE]