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Gansler: Brown Relying On His Race In Bid For Governor

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Maryland's Attorney General Douglas Gansler told campaign volunteers that his rival in next year's Democratic gubernatorial primary, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, is relying on his race to get elected.

The Washington Post reports that the comments were captured on a recording of a July 15 meeting for volunteers in Annapolis provided to the newspaper by someone not employed by either campaign.

"I mean, right now his campaign slogan is, `Vote for me, I want to be the first African-American governor of Maryland,' " Gansler told the group. "That's a laudable goal, but you need a second sentence: `Because here's what I've done, and here's why I've done it.'"

Gansler's campaign didn't dispute the comments, but accused Brown's campaign of recording the comments illegally.

"It's unfortunate that Anthony Brown's campaign has to stoop to the level of Richard Nixon and send in spies to illegally record a private campaign organizing meeting," Gansler strategist Doug Thornell said.

Brown's campaign manager denied involvement, but called Gansler's comments "out of touch with Maryland values."

"If I had said these things on tape, I'd want to change the subject, too. The Brown campaign had nothing to do with this," said Justin Schall, Brown's campaign manager. "The only one responsible for Gansler's comments is Doug Gansler."

During the meeting at a recreation center advertised on Facebook as a volunteer outreach event for Anne Arundel County residents, Gansler said he plans to formally announce his bid for governor in September and announce his running mate about a week later. He said the lieutenant governor candidate would be an African-American from Baltimore or Prince George's County.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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