by Matthew Hay Brown

Did Barack Obama lose a superdelegate when Rep. Albert R. Wynn announced his resignation from Congress?

Wynn, an eight-term Maryland Democrat, endorsed Obama for president earlier this year. But on the day Obama scored a resounding victory in Maryland, Wynn was defeated in his district primary. With no chance at re-election in November, he announced last week that he would be leaving the House in May to take a job with the Washington lobbying firm Dickstein Shapiro LLP.

The move could impact a race in which both Obama and Hillary Clinton are agressively courting superdelegates.

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has not decided whether to order a special election to replace Wynn for the few months remaining in the legislative session. The decision may hinge on whether he can push through legislation that would enable him to skip a costly and length primary process and go straight to a general election before the state General Assembly adjourns next week.

Donna Edwards, the attorney and activist who defeated Wynn in the primary, would be heavily favored to win a special election in a liberal district where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than five to one. She is also an Obama backer, so if she were sworn in before the Democratic National Convention in August, it would be a wash for the Illlinois senator.

But if O'Malley -- a Clinton supporter -- doesn't order a special election, Obama will have one less superdelegate to bring to his argument for the nomination.

Matthew Hay Brown covers Congress for The Baltimore Sun.