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Instead, Bolivar did not take the bait. She continued with her efforts to campaign for Clinton, while Cook continued working for Obama, leaving their College Park home divided, at least politically.

Cook and Bolivar will be delegates at the Feb. 12 presidential primary, but on opposite sides.

‘‘I tried to persuade her to come to my side,” said Cook, a College Park city councilman. ‘‘I was flatly rejected. I’d rather have Sylvia with me than against me.”

Terry Speigner, chairman of the Prince George’s County Democratic Central Committee, said he has heard of households being split between the candidates, but he is more concerned with the larger issue.

‘‘Most important to us is that the home goes Democratic,” he said. ‘‘Just as long as they vote Democratic and hopefully unite their vote behind the party nominee.”

Cook said the couple would support the Democratic nominee ‘‘in order to maintain domestic tranquility.”

In the meantime, however, they are campaigning for their respective candidates.

‘‘Hillary has 35 years of working for change and she has a strong commitment to health care reform and expanding educational opportunities,” Bolivar said. ‘‘She has the leadership skills and experience to lead from day one. This is an opportunity to break the glass ceiling.”

Cook counters that Obama appeals to a wider cross section of voters.

‘‘All the target models are young, old, black and white and he just appeals to a cross section of people, from liberals to Goldwater Republicans,” he said. ‘‘At some meetings some Republicans feel so strongly for Obama they are switching to support him.”

David Paulson, communications director for the Maryland Democratic Party, said while he had not noticed a trend of households split on candidates, it did not surprise him either.

‘‘Within marriages, individuals have their own idea on who would be the best president and who would win that race. That’s understandable because at least on the Democratic side we have so many attractive candidates,” he said. ‘‘It’s not about a house divided. It’s about positive energy moving past the primary and into the general election.”

Bolivar said watching the televised debates provides opportunities for dialogue.

‘‘If we watch a debate, we will have a vigorous debate about who articulated their position better,” Bolivar said. ‘‘If I say Hillary did well in the last debate, Mark will say, ‘I thought Obama did better.’”

Cook said he and his wife’s competitive nature comes out during the campaign.

‘‘We both keep the bar very high,” he said. ‘‘And we’ll be upset when our candidate hasn’t done as well as we want him or her to do.”

There is some simple debate etiquette that the couple adheres to, however.

If something goes bad for Clinton, Cook said, he tries to be sensitive. ‘‘Since it’s the woman I live with, I don’t rub it in her face. I’m happily married and I’m planning on remaining so.”

When Obama outperformed Clinton in one of the early caucus contests, Cook did a little victory dance, but he had to take it outdoors.

‘‘We agreed we wouldn’t rub it in the other person’s face,” Cook said.

When Clinton won Nevada’s Democratic caucuses on Jan. 19, it was Bolivar’s turn to contain her glee and go outside for her victory dance.

The family political divide is not exclusive to Democrats.

‘‘I was speaking with the former chairman of the Maryland Republican committee on a different issue and he said that his wife is supporting Rudy Giuliani and he’s supporting Mitt Romney,” Paulson said.