A little more than a week from election day, Democratic attorney general nominee Brian Frosh headed to the polls in the place where he cemented his political career.
The Somerset resident and five-term state senator appears likely to win his race against Republican Jeffrey Pritzker, which would land Frosh one of the state’s highest offices after nearly three decades representing Bethesda and Chevy Chase in Annapolis.
“I’m running on fumes to a certain extent, but the response that we’ve gotten all over the state has been very kind,” Frosh said after voting early in Chevy Chase.
Frosh won nearly 50 percent of the vote in June’s Democratic primary to best Baltimore County Del. Jon Cardin and Prince George’s County Del. Aisha Braveboy. A good chunk of his margin came from a 70 percent to 20 percent advantage over Cardin among Montgomery County Democrats.
The race, during which polls showed Frosh trailing Cardin despite significant backing from state leaders, tested Frosh’s soft-spoken and genial style. The popular narrative had Frosh being forced into attack mode to beat Cardin, who had a name recognition advantage thanks to his uncle — Sen. Ben Cardin.
The general election against Pritzker looks as if it will be smoother sailing.
An early October poll from the Washington Post and the University of Maryland had Frosh up 23 points on his Republican opponent.
Still, Frosh acknowledged a bit of angst over what some are saying will be a low Democratic turnout on Nov. 4.
“At the moment I’m more concerned about Anthony Brown than for me,” Frosh said. “It’s a tough year. We’ve had six years of a Democratic president, eight years of a Democratic governor and nobody’s life is perfect. So people are looking at their options.”
Frosh said he believes Brown, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee looking to hold off Republican Larry Hogan, will win on Tuesday.
He also reflected on the campaign as a whole, a process that was a lot different than running in District 16.
“It’s orders of magnitude different. Even when you’re running in a district, there’s something you can do every minute of the day,” Frosh said. “But when you’re running statewide, there are like 50 things you can do every minute. It’s just staggering how much there is to be done. If you get into it and you push yourself, it ends up being extraordinarily frenetic.”
After voting on Monday with his wife Marcy at the Jane E. Lawton Community Recreation Center in Chevy Chase, Frosh greeted longtime supporters — many of whom have been with him through almost 28 years in District 16.
“This is home,” Frosh said, “but people have been kind in all corners of the state. So, I’m very optimistic.”
