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At Shady Grove, Wynn spoke to a crowd of about 30 people, about one quarter of whom were public officials supporting his campaign. He was introduced by County Executive Isiah Leggett (D).

On Friday, Wynn held a kickoff breakfast at Camelot in Upper Marlboro. District 4 includes parts of the upcounty, eastern Montgomery County and portions of Prince George’s County.

He is one of several candidates to launch campaigns in recent weeks, just seven months after last year’s critical midterm elections. With some television networks, mostly cable, already broadcasting presidential debates, candidates say they are aware that the presidential campaign could be unwelcome noise to voters still suffering from an election hangover.

‘‘Some are saying as I’m shaking hands, ‘Mr. Wynn, I like you, but are you campaigning already?’” Wynn said. ‘‘We’re going to make it a civil campaign.”

An eight-term incumbent, Wynn will face Donna F. Edwards, a Fort Washington attorney, in the Feb. 12 Democratic primary. Edwards lost last year’s primary to Wynn by 3 percentage points. Also announced for the Democratic primary are George Edward McDermott of Forest Heights, who was a candidate last year, and George E. Mitchell of Upper Marlboro.

The 2008 primary was scheduled for March 4 before the General Assembly moved it up to Feb. 12. State officials hope the earlier date will bring Maryland more attention from presidential candidates.

While some candidates say the change will have little effect on their campaign strategy or the election, experts say the earlier date has its advantages.

‘‘Why did incumbents in so many states go along with or even encourage early primary dates?” asked Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. ‘‘Because it discourages or even eliminates competition.”

The only hope for challengers is if an incumbent becomes embroiled in a scandal in the next few months, he said. Otherwise, ‘‘The election is over and done with before a lot of challengers have even appointed a campaign staff,” he said.

One challenger who may not be helped or hurt by the earlier primary may be Edwards, Sabato said.

‘‘She was clearly a favorite of many of the Democratic Party constituency groups,” he said. ‘‘That guarantees her a reasonable level of support. ... If she’s running a competitive primary, she’s going to have financial support.”

Edwards has said she hopes to raise $1 million. She has hired Adrienne Christian, deputy campaign manager in Virginia Democrat James H. Webb Jr.’s successful U.S. Senate campaign last year. Edwards did not hire a campaign manager in 2006.

Otherwise, Edwards said, her strategy has not changed much. ‘‘As a candidate, whether I’m running in February or running in September, my goal is to meet and talk with as many voters as possible in their homes, in their neighborhoods, in their community centers,” she said. ‘‘From that respect my campaign strategy hasn’t changed at all.”

Wynn, on the other hand, said ‘‘the style of [his] campaign will be different ... I think there is a certain amount of campaign fatigue and we are cognizant of that.”

Wynn said his campaign would follow another rule aimed at keeping voters from tuning-out: no name-calling. ‘‘We will not be running an obnoxious campaign,” he said.

Edwards said she hopes to capitalize on the interest from last year’s campaign. ‘‘What I’m experiencing now is the momentum ... that I felt throughout the congressional district in ’06,” she said. ‘‘And it’s still there.”

A Republican candidate has yet to emerge in District 4. It would take a ‘‘strong horse” out front early and a significant amount of money for a Republican to unseat either Wynn or Christopher Van Hollen Jr. (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington, said Tom Reinheimer, chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee.

It might already be too late, he said. ‘‘As far as where we are in Montgomery County, as a party I’m not sure we’re able to do that right now.”

The 2008 elections in District 4 and District 8 could be more about putting a name on the ballot that can win recognition and put fundraising in motion for a 2010 run at a congressional seat or at Democrat Barbara A. Mikulski’s U.S. Senate seat, Reinheimer said.

As a worn-out electorate, name recognition could mean more than usual: ‘‘Incumbents would like people to pay almost no attention to the congressional election at all,” Sabato said.