Cryor predicts a million Democrats cast ballots in primary

Michael Cryor

GOP Uncertain Of Turnout

With no clear frontrunner after a month of voting and four contested elections, Maryland Democrats believe their primary will not only be relevant to the party’s eventual nominee, but set new records for turnout.

Yesterday, State Chair Michael Cryor predicted “one million Maryland Democrats will go to the polls on February 12th.”

Maryland has held presidential primaries since the Progressive era in 1912. The largest turnout for a state Democratic primary was in 1976, with 592,000 ballots cast in California Gov. Jerry Brown’s stunning victory over Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter.

In recent presidential primary elections, typically held in March, the races were no longer competitive. 470,000 Democrats voted in 2004 and 502,000 voted in 2000.

“Clearly, we have not seen the political stars align like this in many years,” Cryor said. “It’s been a long time since this sort of energy has swept the nation, and Maryland will have an important contribution to make in helping to determine who will be our next president.”

Despite a hotly contested congressional primary in the First District, Maryland Republican leaders declined to make a prediction for turnout in their race.

“We have a great group of candidates running for president on the Republican side,” State GOP Chair Jim Pelura told PolitickerMD.com.

A Democratic Party official predicted the Republican vote would not surpass their previous record: 376,000 in March of 2000.

John Kerry holds the record for highest vote-getter in either party’s primary with 286,955 – only 300 votes more than then-38 year-old Jerry Brown’s 286,672 in 1976.

George W. Bush received the most votes of Republicans, 211,439 in 2000.