Be it they desire fame, fortune or just want to spend $290 at the state Board of Elections office, 28 individuals have filed to run in the Maryland Senate primary race scheduled for September 12.

On the Democratic side Rep. Ben Cardin and former Rep. Kweisi Mfume are the top two contenders, but newcomer Josh Rales has entered the race with the support of his own millions. An owner of a real estate investment company, Rales launched a series of television advertisements yesterday (watch). He joins 17 other candidates for the Democratic primary.

Mfume enjoys a slight six point lead over Cardin of 31 to 25 percent in the latest Washington Post poll of registered Democrats. He does even better among likely Democratic voters, leading 33 to 26 percent. Rales comes in at one percent. 26 percent of registered Democrats have yet to make up their minds.

Interestingly, Cardin does better than Mfume in a general election trial heat against the all but guaranteed Republican nominee Lt. Gov. Michael Steele, at 52 to 40 percent, to Mfume’s 46 to 46 against Steele among likely voters.

These results can in part be explained by race. Mfume, who is black, enjoys much greater support from African Americans (i.e. almost all Democratic voters) than Cardin, but he has had to go out of his way to explain his criminal past to suburban white voters (i.e. independents). Steele, who is also black, has, on the other hand, had to work to convince African American voters that he is not just towing the Republican Party line. (See a previous post for more on how race is impacting the campaign).

The Maryland governor’s race may have attracted fewer candidates than the Senate race, and less primary competition, but that hasn’t stopped the mud slinging. In the more recent episode, the state Democratic Party is calling for an investigation of Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s (R) personal lawyer, David Hamilton. Democrats allege that Hamilton has acted more like a lobbyist for a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal than Ehrlich’s private confidant. Recently, the group Common Cause Maryland filed a complaint with the Maryland State Ethics Commission against Hamilton.