Tim McCann

EASTON -- Congressional candidate Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) says he believes his campaign is tied with Republican Andy Harris's.

"The most recent ones showed us at 36, tied at 36," said Kratovil of Harris's camp at a Friday night fundraiser.

Kratovil was referencing an internal poll released last month by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

"There was a rumor that he [Harris] did an internal one and it showed us even better than that," Kratovil told PolitickerMD.com. "But you know -- that's rumors."

The Andy Harris campaign says their Democratic challenger is engaging in push polling to distort Harris' record, but Frank Kratovil's camp is calling the accusations false.

Harris campaign manager Chris Meekins claims Frank Kratovil's campaign is "engaging in negative and deceitful push polling" in an attempt to win voters over to its side.

State's Attorney Frank KratovilKratovil Campaign Manager Tim McCann dismissed the results of a Harris campaign internal poll which showed Harris carrying a sizeable lead in the 1st Congressional District.

The poll showed state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) with a 16 point lead over State's Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville).

“As Andy’s campaign manger himself said a few months back, ‘Internal polls can be skewed one way or the other.’ Our internal numbers paint a different picture so I'm not particularly worried about this small-sample poll,” wrote McCann in an email to PolitickerMD.com.

State's Attorney Frank KratovilState’s Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) is criticizing his MD-1 opponent’s commitment to protecting Ocean City’s beaches. The criticism comes just a day after state Sen. Andy Harris (R-Cockeysville) told a crowd at a fundraiser Tuesday to “just say no to earmarks.”

“Ocean City’s beaches are a billion-dollar economic engine that generate thousands of jobs for hard-working Maryland families,” said Kratovil in a statement.

Tim McCann, state's Attorney Frank Kratovil’s (D-Stevensville) new campaign manager, told PolitickerMD.com that his addition to the campaign is not part of a big change or a drastic shift in direction.

McCann, who was brought on board to the Kratovil campaign last week, will take over on Tuesday. Kratovil’s former campaign manager, volunteer Marie Duffield, will begin focusing on field operations according to Erik Gulbrandsen, the campaign’s spokesperson.

“All campaign staffs grow as you approach election day,” McCann said in an interview with PolitickerMD.com. “My role is to come in and focus the operation.”

State's Attorney Frank KratovilState’s Attorney Frank Kratovil (D-Stevensville) has hired a new campaign manager in his bid to win Maryland’s 1st Congressional District in November. Tim McCann will take over July 1 and will replace volunteer Marie Duffield, who will begin focusing on field operations.

Erik Gulbrandsen, Kratovil’s spokesman, told PolitickerMD.com that McCann “brings to the table a whole lot of experience in new media marketing,” which Gulbrandsen said is something the campaign hadn’t focused much on in the past.