An article on Baltimore's 45th Legislative District last Sunday should have said that the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance endorsed Nathaniel J. McFadden and one member of his ticket, Clarence "Tiger" Davis, not the entire ticket.
* The Sun regrets the error.
In the clannish, often quarrelsome political world of East Baltimore, a lot of the candidates this year have an odd thing in common. They share the same last name.
FOR THE RECORD - CORRECTION
There's Robert Stokes, a 36-year-old community activist who headed a mayor's station until he decided to run for the state House of Delegates.
There's Clyde A. Stokes, a 52-year-old political unknown who remains something of a mystery since filing for state Senate in the name's-the-same tradition of city politics.
And there's Carl Stokes, a 44-year-old city councilman who entered the Senate race only after the two political organizations that dominate East Baltimore's 45th District failed to agree on fielding a unified ticket. The three candidates who share the Stokes name are unrelated. But the peculiarity that one-fourth of the 12 candidates seeking state office in the district have the same surname is only part of the intrigue.
There also are two feuding political clubs and two vying tickets -- one headed by Councilman Stokes and another by former City Councilman Nathaniel J. McFadden. Mr. Stokes unseated Mr. McFadden in 1987 in a similar name's-the-same campaign when a Harold McFadden ran.
State Sen. Nathan C. Irby, whose self-described "sabbatical" set up the tough race, is supporting Mr. McFadden for the state Senate. Mr. McFadden challenged him two terms ago. And so are some of Maryland's most powerful political figures, including Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and Gov. William Donald Schaefer.
Mr. Irby now says he is interested in running for the council presidency, a position Mr. Stokes had planned to seek. To an outsider, and even to some of the district's 40,000 registered voters, the race appears confusing. But Councilman Anthony J. Ambridge, a 2nd District Democrat, calls that ordinary.
"Half the time, you don't know the players unless you have a card," Mr. Ambridge said. "It's not unusual for there to be conflicting tickets from election to election. There's been a lot of people with similar names holding office, but the people in East Baltimore know the players."
