Prince George's County Executive Parris Glendening emerged victorious from the Democratic primary after defeating several candidates.

[13] Steinberg was initially viewed as the frontrunner of the Democratic primary, but his campaign suffered from poor fundraising and gaffes that contributed to his dwindling lead in polling.

[14] Glendening receiving the endorsements of both Schmoke[15] and Montgomery County Executive Neal Potter[16] established him as the new frontrunner in the race[17] and gave him an overwhelming lead in the Washington, D.C. suburbs and Baltimore City, which led to his resounding victory in the Democratic primary in September 1994.

[18] Organizations U.S. representatives Statewide elected officials State senators State delegates Local officials Individuals Organizations Labor unions Newspapers State senators Labor unions State delegates Labor unions Statewide officials Ahead of the election, Republicans expressed optimism in their ability to retake the governor's office,[54] with party nominees receiving about 40 percent of the vote in recent elections[55] and polls showing voters strongly disapproving of Governor William Donald Schaefer as a result of his support for an $800 million tax restructuring package and media coverage of his "style" problems, including his "shithouse" gaffe.

[55] 1990 gubernatorial nominee William Shepard became the first candidate to enter the race, followed shortly afterwards by House of Delegates minority leader Ellen Sauerbrey in April 1993.

[69][70] In the final eight weeks of the election, Glendening spent $2.5 million on campaign ads portraying Sauerbrey as a right-wing extremist who would roll back protections on gun control and abortion rights, and associating her with televangelist Pat Robertson and his Christian Coalition, who distributed campaign literature in churches spotlighting certain political positions of Glendening and Sauerbrey.

[94][95] Lawyers for the Glendening campaign sought to dismiss Sauerbrey's lawsuit, saying that the alleged voting irregularities were "the result of [at worst] excusable neglect, or do not involve intentionally wrongful acts or acts of fraud by voters, election officials, or others" and that Sauerbrey could not prove that such voters cast ballots for Glendening or voted in the governor's race at all.