Since May, when Jim Kraft became the first City Council candidate to announce his intention to run, the attorney has done a politician's share of handshaking.
The effort paid off in Tuesday's primary election when Kraft defeated six Democratic contenders in the 1st District with about 34 percent of the vote. Yesterday, at a bagel shop on Canton's waterfront, a handshake from a voter was accompanied by an honorific that Kraft has sought for more than a decade: "'Morning, Councilman."
Kraft beamed, dug into a short stack of pancakes, and left on a 10-day getaway to England.
FOR THE RECORD - Three independent candidates were omitted from an article in yesterday's editions of The Sun about the 1st District Baltimore City Council race: Green Party candidates Matt Clark of Upper Fells Point and Ashley Paige Scarborough of Hampden, and Gene Curran, an unaffiliated candidate from Highlandtown. The general election is in November 2004.
The Sun regrets the error.
"I just decided win, lose or draw, I was going on vacation on Thursday," said Kraft, who lives in Fells Point.
Kraft was perhaps the least-known Democratic winner Tuesday. Incumbents held off all underdog opponents, and just one other new face prevailed -- Belinda K. Conaway in the 7th District. But as the daughter of Circuit Court Clerk Frank M. Conaway, her name is much better known.
In the November 2004 general election, Kraft will face Republican Roberto L. Marsili, who appears to have defeated contender Brandon S. Katz by 12 votes.
The 14-month delay -- in a majority-Democrat city where primary winners have handily won in general elections every year since the 1950s -- means that top finishers like Kraft will have to play a waiting game.
And Kraft, who maintains a general-practice law firm in Baltimore and Columbia, is itching to serve his neighbors.
"People in our district thought I was the councilman before the election," Kraft said with a laugh. "If people call me for help with something, I'm going to get on the phone and make it happen.
"The delay is frustrating in the sense that you don't have the power or the formal authority to assist your constituents but you do have constituents and you'd like to show that you meant what you said during your campaign," he added.
"It's like the British `government in waiting.'"
An avid Anglophile who regularly vacations in London, Kraft said he plans to use the next year to transition from his solo law practice into being a full-time council member.
"I think if tomorrow were my first day on the job, I'd look at what the issue of the day was and get to work. The good thing is, I'll already have been plugging away at it," he said.
Kraft isn't a newcomer to local politics.
