Maryland Governor's Race Tightens, Bringing in More Money

Larry Hogan, Maryland's Republican nominee for governor, has closed the gap on Democratic nominee Anthony Brown in the past week, and is drawing money and support for his campaign, Fox News reports.

Maryland is traditionally blue, and Hogan had been running double-digits behind Brown, the current lieutenant governor, from the outset. But an internal poll from the Hogan campaign showed Hogan trialing only two points, 46-44, on Monday. Another internal poll later in the week showed Hogan up five points.

While those polls were conducted on behalf of Hogan's campaign, a Hogan internal poll in July showed Brown leading him by 12 points. Nonpartisan pollsters now show the race a dead heat.

Democrats are taking the results seriously, with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stumping for Brown while New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie campaigned for Hogan.

And money from both parties is flowing into the campaign once considered a Democratic lock.

"It’s a little crazy right now, but we believe everything is now breaking our way," Hogan said Wednesday. "The timing is perfect. The momentum is there for Democrats and independents. There’s a full-scale tax revolt in deep-blue Maryland."

Republicans have been hammering Brown as a clone of Gov. Martin O’Malley, who is being term-limited out of office. O'Malley instituted 40 new taxes during his two terms, including the controversial "rain water tax" in response to an Environmental Protection Agency mandate to clean up Chesapeake Bay.

"It’s not fear of raising taxes," former Maryland Republican Party Finance Chairman Rob Carter told Fox News. "It’s an absolute certainty."

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