More News

Yet, Dyson (D-Dist. 29) of Great Mills walloped McKay, the son of a former state senator, 64 percent to 36 percent.

So was born ‘‘The Close Race That Wasn’t Close: The Story of the Tommy McKay for Maryland 2006 State Senate Campaign,” a documentary produced by St. Mary’s College of Maryland senior Elizabeth Lewis, who worked on McKay’s campaign and who recently completed a one-year term as president of the Maryland Federation of College Republicans.

The 35-minute film, which Lewis premiered on Wednesday night at the college, is the product of a yearlong research project that is required of all St. Mary’s seniors. Despite her involvement in the McKay campaign and the challenge of being objective, Lewis decided to revolve her project around the race.

‘‘It was like a journalistic exercise to some extent,” said Lewis, 21, of Elkton. ‘‘For a Republican activist to make something unbiased was sometimes difficult, but I’m pretty confident that my movie is unbiased.”

The documentary includes interviews with McKay and members of his campaign team, offers behind-the-scenes footage of staff meetings, examines the political climate of St. Mary’s County and explores what led to the wide margin. It also provides a detailed account of the campaign’s major themes through debate footage, media coverage and political advertisements.

Dyson declined to be interviewed, which, Lewis said, was disappointing.

McKay initially embraced Lewis’ project, but he said it took him awhile after the November defeat to sit down with her and relive the campaign. In the film, McKay said he realized he was in trouble about a month before the election, but the margin of defeat ‘‘devastated” him.

‘‘I put off doing the interview with her for as long as I could so that I could approach it with as level a mind and as positive an attitude as possible,” he said after the premiere.

McKay gave a rave review of the film and said it will serve as an important part of the county’s political record.

‘‘This documentary is a great piece of history for this community,” he said. ‘‘It’s something you can look at 25, 30 years from now and get a good understanding of what politics was like in the early 2000s.

Political science professor Zach P. Messitte, Lewis’ faculty adviser, agreed. ‘‘It is a little time capsule of politics in St. Mary’s County in 2006,” he said.

Messitte said he was initially concerned that Lewis’ affiliation with the McKay campaign would make the documentary too one-sided. But he was impressed with its objectivity and professionalism.

‘‘Only someone who was top notch would be able to pull something like this off,” he said. ‘‘To be a 21-year-old and have the moxie to interview all these people ... takes some real poise and wisdom beyond those years.”

While several of the interviewees, including McKay, attributed the rout to a national anti-GOP wave, Lewis disagreed. She noted that Republican candidates at the top of the ticket won nearly 60 percent of the vote in St. Mary’s County.

She concluded that Dyson was a proficient campaigner with strong name recognition, while McKay had a few stumbles, including a false claim on campaign literature that he graduated from the University of Maryland. ‘‘Put it all together and it really had an impact,” Lewis said. ‘‘It wasn’t just one thing.”

Lewis also concluded that voters in St. Mary’s County don’t cast their ballots based on party affiliation. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, both Republicans, won a majority of votes in the county, but so did Democrats Del. John L. Bohanan Jr. and Dyson.

‘‘People don’t care how much money you have, what party you are, what grassroots [organization] you have,” she said. ‘‘People vote who they’re comfortable with, rather than any other factor.”

Following the campaign from beginning to end gave Lewis an appreciation for politics, which she said gets a bad rap.

‘‘The people who work on campaigns, particularly local campaigns, are people who love the community, love the issues, love the candidates,” she said. ‘‘I feel it’s a very pure process.”

She even offered high praise for rival Democratic activists. ‘‘It’s not about what party you belong to. These people aren’t your enemies. We’re all just trying to get something done.”

Lewis spent months in the college library’s editing room putting together hours of footage.

Lewis, who graduates next month, said she is hoping to land a job on Capitol Hill and might volunteer for a Republican presidential candidate in her spare time. The project also spurred her interest in possibly running for public office in the future.

Messitte thinks Lewis’ political future is bright.

‘‘The sky is the limit for someone like her. She is smart and articulate and well-versed on the issues,” he said. ‘‘I would think she’s the kind of person the Republican party in Maryland ought to nurture, because if she is the future of the Republican party, then the Republican party in Maryland has some bright days ahead of them.”