Cryor race comes down to absentees

Germantown’s Craig Rice leading for third delegate seat with ballots yet to be counted

Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2006

Election officials Thursday morning will begin counting the roughly 3,900 absentee ballots cast by residents of District 15 that will decide a closely contested race for the third House of Delegates seat.

The results will determine whether 12-year Republican veteran Jean B. Cryor of Potomac returns to Annapolis or whether Democratic newcomer Craig Rice of Germantown takes her place.

After Tuesday’s ballots were counted, incumbent Cryor, 67, trailed Rice, 34, by 666 votes.

Marjorie Roher, spokeswoman for the county Board of Elections, expects the canvassing of the absentee ballots to wrap up by the end of the day Saturday. And beginning Monday morning, election officials will begin counting roughly 1,300 provisional votes cast by paper ballots at District 15 polls on Tuesday, she said.

Cryor could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but when the first results were posted shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday, she had less than a one percent lead. She told 20 people gathered for dinner at the Hunter’s Inn in Potomac that she was exhausted and was going home.

“I have loved these 12 years,” she said. “It has been a joy. I would love to do four more. And not knowing where I stand with all those absentees out there, I just don’t know.”

An hour later, as more precincts reported and the race continued to be just a couple of hundred votes apart, Rice said he was optimistic he could pull ahead.

“Hopefully the precincts that haven’t reported yet will be in the upcounty where we have a lot of our strength,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to turn the corner.”

Shortly after 11 p.m. the tide began to turn and Rice took a small lead.

Cryor is a three-term incumbent, the only Republican in Montgomery County’s delegation, and a ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee.

District 15 includes parts of Bethesda, Potomac and Rockville, and much of the upcounty, including parts of Gaithersburg, Germantown, Clarksburg and Poolesville.

Staff Writers Melissa A. Chadwick and Sebastian Montes contributed to this report.