The Maryland gubernatorial election of 2010 was held on November 2, 2010.[1] The date included the election of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and all members of the Maryland General Assembly. Incumbent Governor Martin O'Malley and Lieutenant Governor Anthony G. Brown, both Democrats, were eligible to run for a second term in office and pursued a successful re-election, becoming the first gubernatorial ticket in Maryland history to receive more than one million votes.[2][3]
In the summer before the election, Ehrlich's campaign hired a consultant who advised that "the first and most desired outcome is voter suppression", in the form of having "African-American voters stay home."[10] To that end, the Republicans placed thousands of Election Day robocalls to Democratic voters, telling them that O'Malley had won, although in fact the polls were still open for some two more hours.[11] The Republicans' call, worded to seem as if it came from Democrats, told the voters, "Relax. Everything's fine. The only thing left is to watch it on TV tonight."[10] The calls reached 112,000 voters in majority-African American areas.[11] In 2011, Ehrlich's campaign manager, Paul Schurick, was convicted of fraud and other charges because of the calls.[10] Ehrlich denied knowing about the calls.[10]
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