ROCKVILLE – Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan announced his candidacy for governor yesterday, pledging to make higher education more affordable for college-bound students in Maryland and highlighting a commitment to increase education funding to improve opportunities for children in the state’s public schools.

“The costs of higher education have skyrocketed, making it too difficult for too many families [to send their children to college]”, Duncan said “With me as governor, education gets funded first.”

Duncan said his goal to make higher education more accessible would be compounded by initiatives to improve public schools across the state and polls encourage parents to become more involved in their children’s education.

In touting his commitment to education, Duncan also leveled sharp criticism at the leadership of Baltimore City. Duncan’s major opponent in the 2006 primary is Baltimore City Mayor Martin O’Malley, who already announced his candidacy. O’Malley also pledged support for higher education when he made his announcement in late September.

“We won’t move forward as a state while our largest city continues to lag behind in the schools,” Duncan said. “The children of Baltimore deserve the opportunity of every other child in the state. They don’t get that now.”

Jonathan Epstein, a spokesman for O’Malley, said O’Malley has focused much of his effort as mayor on reducing crime and supporting drug treatment and plans to hold a speech on education this weekend. He also chided Duncan for using his announcement speech to criticize O’Malley.

Duncan criticized Republican Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s administration for having a “single-minded focus on slot machines.” Ehrlich has pushed for legislation that would legalize slot machines at fledgling Maryland racetracks since his 2002 campaign.

Education has long been a focus within Montgomery County, in which Duncan was elected county executive in 1994. The county boasts the second-highest SAT scores in the state, and its teachers are among the highest paid in the nation. Duncan also frequently promotes evidence of his ability to revitalize “blighted urban areas” such as downtown Silver Spring.

Government and politics professor James Gimpel said although O’Malley has built a strong lead in the polls, it was probably due to his style rather than substance. Gimpel said Duncan should prove a formidable opponent for O’Malley.

Although Duncan is well recognized in Montgomery after stints as a Rockville city council member, mayor and county executive, he has struggled to gain name recognition elsewhere in the state, several media organizations have reported. O’Malley has led in early polls and is well- recognized in the city and suburbs of Baltimore, a fact considered essential to his run to challenge Ehrlich.

The last major Democratic candidate for governor, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, didn’t enter the primary race until May 2002, four months before the primary was to take place. Duncan and O’Malley have announced their candidacies almost a year before the primary is held next year, on Sept. 12.

Prince George’s County Councilman Tom Hendershot, who represents the district in which the campus lies and is a Duncan supporter, said at the announcement that Duncan deserves support from students because tuition costs have gotten too high.

“Those costs we need to be able to get under control,” Hendershot said. “I think Doug Duncan can do it.”

Contact reporter Kevin Litten at littendbk@gmail.com.