"Voters Will Choose Replacement for Rep. Wynn Today." The Washington Post, 17 June 2008.

Voters Will Choose Replacement for Rep. Wynn Today

By Rosalind S. Helderman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 17, 2008; B02

Voters in a wide swath of Montgomery and Prince George's counties will go to the polls today for a special election to replace eight-term Rep. Albert R. Wynn (D).

Wynn resigned May 31 after he was defeated in the February Democratic primary by Prince George's nonprofit executive Donna F. Edwards.

Edwards's victory by 22 percentage points in the primary earned her a place on the November ballot, facing Republican Peter James. The winner of that election will take office in January.

After Wynn's resignation, Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) called an additional special election to fill out the congressman's term. Edwards and James were chosen by the Montgomery and Prince George's Democratic and Republican central committees to compete. The winner will serve the last six months of Wynn's term.

Edwards, 49, has been executive director of the Arca Foundation, which provides grants to progressive causes, since 2000. She is a lawyer, helped found the National Network to End Domestic Violence and once worked for Public Citizen, the consumer advocacy group founded by Ralph Nader. The separated mother of a college-age son lives in Fort Washington.

She defeated Wynn, a longtime fixture in the local political scene, after arguing that he had sided too frequently with Republicans and corporate interests.

James, 53, a high-tech developer from Montgomery, has been endorsed by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), a former presidential candidate whose libertarian ideas James often shares. James wants to dramatically shrink the federal government and overhaul the nation's banking system. He is married with two children and lives in Germantown.

No Republican has cleared 25 percent of the vote in the overwhelmingly Democratic area since redistricting in the early 1990s.

Libertarian candidate Thibeaux Lincecum is also on the ballot.

Maryland's 4th Congressional District stretches from northern Montgomery, including Clarksburg, Olney and parts of Silver Spring, through much of central and southern Prince George's. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.