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The 2006 Maryland Attorney General election was held on November 7, 2006. Incumbent Democratic Attorney General of Maryland J. Joseph Curran declined to seek a sixth term in office, prompted by the fact that his son-in-law, Martin O'Malley was running for Governor and wanted to avoid a conflict of interest. Montgomery County State's Attorney Doug Gansler won the Democratic primary to succeed Curran and faced off against Scott Rolle, the Frederick County State's Attorney who was unopposed in the Republican primary. Ultimately, Gansler defeated Rolle in a landslide and became the Attorney General of Maryland.
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Candidates
Campaign
As Gansler and Simms rolled out campaigns for Attorney General, they were joined by Montgomery County Councilman Thomas Perez, who raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, rolled out endorsements from unions, and aired television ads before the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that he did not meet the requirements to appear on the ballot as a candidate. Glenn Ivey, the Prince George's County State's Attorney, was rumored to be a possible candidate but ultimately declined to run. The Baltimore Sun announced its endorsement of Simms, declaring, "Mr. Gansler lacks Mr. Simms' breadth of experience and moderate temperament that is better suited for this critical role." In the end, Gansler was able to comfortably defeat Simms and was able to win every county in the state except for Baltimore County and Baltimore City.