Maryland's 1st Congressional District race could be decided by the roughly 60,000 voters in Cecil County.

While Republican Andy Harris can claim the Western Shore as his stronghold and Democrat Frank Kratovil the Eastern Shore, Cecil County remains a toss-up with just about 2,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans.

That's not to say both candidates don't have their vulnerabilities. Observers point to Queen Anne's County and Anne Arundel County as competitive, but none as unpredictable as Cecil.

Wyatt Wallace, president of the Cecil County Democrat Club said if Kratovil wins Cecil County, "he'll win the race."

Michael Cain, chair of the political science department at St. Mary's College of Maryland, agreed that Cecil was a toss-up, but didn't go as far to say a win in Cecil meant a win for Kratovil.

Cain said Kratovil will need to hold down turnout in the Western Shore to reign victorious, adding turnout among Salisbury's large African American population would be beneficial as well.

The Kratovil camp's campaign schedule for the last few days had the 1st District hopeful campaigning frequently in Salisbury, Anne Arundel and Baltimore County. Harris's schedule was very similar.

Queen Anne's County Commissioner Gene Ransom (D) echoed a similar scenario to Cain. He said the race is a fifty-fifty split between the Western and Eastern shore.

"Turnout could make a bid difference," Ransom told PolitickerMD.com.

With the race so close, turnout for the presidential election could have a major impact as well.

Most observers agree the 1st District will go for John McCain and Wallace said Harris's signage -- often side-by-side with McCain signs -- is a big advantage.

Andrew Langer, the president of the Institute for Liberty, said the district was more in tune with a candidate like Harris opposed to Kratovil.

"The key to this race is converting McCain Democrats over to Andy Harris," Langer told PolitickerMD.com. Langer, a resident of Centreville, also serves as the Eastern Shore coordinator of Maryland for McCain.

And while turnout for McCain may give Harris and edge, Cain said higher turnout in general would be more beneficial to Kratovil since the district has more registered Democrats.

"That District has no problem voting Democratic as well," Cain said.