PAC to seek support in Baltimore

The sisterhood is back on the fund-raising trail.

Ellen R. Malcolm, president and founder of the EMILY's List political action committee, will be in Baltimore next week to drum up dollars for Democratic women candidates who favor abortion rights.

Ms. Malcolm will speak to Maryland members as part of the PAC's drive to raise $10 million over the next five years for a Get-Out-The-Vote effort called WOMEN VOTE!

As many as 100 new members are expected at the $100-a-ticket reception June 2 at the Columbus Center, where Maryland Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski -- one of the first recipients of EMILY's largess -- also is scheduled to speak.

The PAC's name is an acronym for Early Money Is Like Yeast ("It makes the dough rise.") Its latest push is part of a long-term effort to identify, contact and mobilize more Democratic women voters.

"When women vote, women win," said Frank D. Wilkinson, the group's communications director.

"In '92, the number of women voters surged, and we put a record number of women in the [U.S.] House and Senate," Mr. Wilkinson said. "In '94, the percentage of women voters dropped off, and the consequences were not good for women -- or Democrats."

So EMILY's List has stepped up its efforts to put more Democratic women in office and counter the GOP gains in Congress.

"There are 15 seats that need to change to win back the House, and there's every reason to believe that's an accomplishable goal in '96," Mr. Wilkinson said.

Tickets to the event are $100. Members also must agree to contribute another $100 to two or more recommended candidates in next year's election. Those checks will be "bundled" by the PAC and delivered to the selected candidates.

The 34,000-member PAC has a proven track record in its first 10 years, helping to elect five women to the U.S. Senate (including Ms. Mikulski), 33 to the House of Representatives and two to governorships.

The group spent $8.2 million for candidates last year alone.

It is a successful formula that has caught on in Maryland.

Last year, in its first year out, Maryland's own Harriet's List raised nearly $124,000 and went 11 for 15 (73 percent) in its candidate picks in the November general election.

New job for Kotecki

Eileen E. Kotecki, the chief rainmaker for Gov. Parris N. Glendening, has quit her post-election State House position as "liaison to the Cabinet."

After three months as a state employee, Ms. Kotecki resigned May 1 to join forces with two other women to form HKH Group, a Canton-based fund-raising firm for political campaigns and nonprofit organizations.

Ms. Kotecki, 30, will not be leaving Mr. Glendening completely. The group will keep the Glendening campaign as a client.

Ms. Kotecki was the prime reasons Mr. Glendening was tagged "the $6 million man" after his campaign raised and spent almost that much to win the governor's race last year, nearly double what had been spent in any single governor's election here previously.

Joining her are Erica Hauver, 27, a Connecticut native who specializes in raising money for nonprofit groups, and Mary Alice Heretick, 32, a transplant from Hopewell, Va., known for Democratic fund-raising in her home commonwealth.

Ms. Kotecki, a Chicago native who moved to Maryland nine years ago, comes by her dedication to the Democratic Party naturally. Her grandmother was a precinct captain for former Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley.