Compared to four years ago, the 2010 round of Democratic primaries can be summarized in three words — boring, boring, and boring. In 2006, Democrats had a down-to-the-wire primary contest for Paul Sarbanes' open seat. There were hot contests for party nominations for comptroller, attorney general and at least for a while governor.

This year, there is not a single serious statewide contest in the Democratic Party. Barbara Mikulski, after predictably deciding to run for re-election, will easily win her fifth nomination for U.S. Senate. The road is no less open for the renomination of three other incumbents: Gov. Martin O'Malley, Attorney General Doug Gansler and Comptroller Peter Franchot.

Given the lack of primary competition for top Democratic offices in this heavily Democratic state, few voters have taken advantage of their option for early voting.

According to the State Board of Elections, as of Wednesday (one day before the close of early voting), only 59,207 people had voted in primaries statewide, about 1.9 percent of the state's registered voters. In Montgomery County, only 5,699 voters cast early primary ballots, or 1 percent of the county's 569,234 eligible voters.

Still, if we look below the top of the ticket, this year's Democratic primaries are exciting, especially in Montgomery County. In four Montgomery legislative districts, incumbent state senators face spirited challenges from current or former delegates.

The most ideologically charged state Senate contest pits liberal Del. Karen Montgomery against incumbent Rona Kramer, one of the most conservative Democrats in the county delegation. Kramer backs the death penalty; Montgomery does not. Kramer backs legalized slot machine gambling in Maryland; Montgomery says no. Kramer has opposed a progressive income tax; Montgomery supports progressive taxes as well as closing tax loopholes for corporations that pay little or no tax to the state. Ratings by liberal interest groups underscore the ideological gulf separating Kramer and Montgomery. For 2009 voting, Progressive Maryland rated Kramer at 52 percent and Montgomery at 95 percent; the Maryland League of Conservation Voters has Kramer at 50 percent and Montgomery at 100 percent. It is an open question, however, whether liberal issues will play in District 14 and whether Montgomery can overcome the problem created by missing the 2007 special session on taxes for a long-planned trip to China.

In District 39, the challenger, Del. Saqib Ali, is running to the left of incumbent Sen. Nancy King. For 2009, Progressive Maryland rates Ali at 92 percent and King at 85 percent; the Maryland League of Conservation Voters has Ali at 100 percent and Montgomery at 75 percent. King voted for authorizing the constitutional amendment on slots; Ali voted no.

However, the District 39 race quickly turned nasty and personal, especially on the King side. This spring, a bogus "push poll" was conducted in District 39, which contained positive information about King and negative allegations about Ali. The poll did not come from King directly, but likely from her ardent supporter, Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller.

King herself recently launched a website devoted to attacking Ali. She has even stooped to circulating an unattributed, undated photo of Ali snoozing on a couch, which she claims without proof shows him sleeping through a General Assembly vote.

Ideology and issues do not prominently feature in the other two major Senate contests. In her challenge to 30-year District 17 incumbent Jenny Forehand, former state Del. Cheryl Kagan has stressed the need for new and more vigorous leadership. Kagan has run the more energetic campaign and has outpaced the incumbent in fundraising. Both sides have made rather silly ethics charges against the other, which should not figure prominently in the outcome. Forehand's slim hope is that Kagan has not given voters a burning enough reason to bounce an incumbent.

In District 19, both Sen. Mike Lenett and his challenger, Del. Roger Manno, are among the most liberal legislators in Annapolis. So, of course, the campaign has become bitter and personal. Lenett has leveled the nastiest charges, claiming that Manno has covered up his and his wife's ties to Wall Street and lied on financial disclosure forms. In a blatant appeal to ethnic prejudice, he also charged that Manno concealed a name change in 2002 from "Rajah" to "Roger." With some justice, Manno has countered by accusing Lenett of having taken county politics "into the gutter like no other candidate before him."

Our county has never before seen so many close, personally bitter and negative races for state senator. So forget the supposedly ho-hum primaries of 2010. There is plenty of action. You just need to know where to look. But look only if your stomach is strong.

Allan Lichtman is a professor of history at American University and a national political analyst.

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