Comptroller William Donald Schaefer may be campaigning for fellow Democrat Kathleen Kennedy Townsend in her bid for governor, but his closest and most loyal supporters are split, with some actively backing her Republican opponent.
About half of Schaefer's inner circle -- a powerful group of about a dozen Democrats who have been his friends and political advisers for decades -- are supporting Townsend.
But others connected with Schaefer's office and his run for re-election are handing out campaign literature for Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., raising money for him, and have printed "Ehrlich/Schaefer" bumper stickers.
Several of Schaefer's employees also display Ehrlich bumper stickers on their cars.
The split has prompted at least one shouting match during a strategy meeting, Schaefer supporters said last week.
Schaefer, who is appearing in a Townsend television commercial, said he doesn't care whom his friends vote for as long as they also support him. "It is OK with me. They have a right as Americans to vote for who they want to," he said.
Those involved blame the fracture on Ehrlich's support for slot machines at racetracks and Townsend's ties to Gov. Parris N. Glendening.
The nasty Democratic primary for comptroller, in which Glendening spent $50,000 on ads that attacked Schaefer, 80, as a racist and sexist, also drove some longtime Democrats into Ehrlich's camp.
"Lots of strong Schaefer people I know are for Ehrlich, probably some of the strongest," said Gene Raynor, Schaefer's campaign manager and lifelong Democrat who now backs the Republican.
"Ehrlich was good to Schaefer. Ehrlich endorsed Schaefer. Some people endorse, while some people use."
Elmer Horsey, Schaefer's campaign treasurer, is also supporting Ehrlich, as are several members of Schaefer's Cabinet from when he was governor.
Louis J. Grasmick, a Schaefer confidant, said he sponsored a fund-raiser for Ehrlich two weeks ago that raised $75,000 from contributors he called "longtime Democrats and Schaefer supporters."
"We inherited a lot of the Schaefer infrastructure from the past," Ehrlich said. "We have a lot of his Democratic operatives working for us in East and South Baltimore."
Ehrlich says he believes the support is boosting his poll numbers in several Baltimore neighborhoods -- such as Little Italy, Highlandtown and South Baltimore -- that have traditionally been Schaefer strongholds.
