Zina C. Pierre, the Democratic candidate for Annapolis mayor, attempted to right her beleaguered campaign Monday by reassuring a closed-door gathering of local party leaders that she could overcome the disclosure of personal financial problems.
Pierre, a 44-year-old political consultant whose win in last week's primary put her on track to become the city's first African-American mayor, offered a sort of preview of a planned news conference on Wednesday, when she is scheduled to discuss for the first time her foreclosed home, state tax liens, bounced checks and other financial difficulties, those attending the breakfast meeting said.
Emerging from the previously planned gathering, Pierre said "it was a positive meeting. We're all unified." She declined to comment further.
FOR THE RECORD - Recent articles have referred to Zina Pierre, who dropped out of the Annapolis mayor's race this week, as potentially the first black mayor of Annapolis. Pierre could have become the first elected black mayor. In 1981, Alderman John Chambers was acting mayor for several months.
The Baltimore Sun regrets the errors.
Pierre's spokesperson, Wanda Stansbury, declined to answer questions, saying the candidate "will have a lot to say on Wednesday."
Three days after her primary victory last week, Pierre announced through a different spokesperson that she was dropping out of the race as her personal financial difficulties contained in court files became public. A day later, she said she was not dropping out.
Questions include how long she has been a resident of Annapolis. City law requires the mayor to have lived in the city for two years before an election. Pierre was raised in Annapolis, and registered to vote in 2004; she purchased a house in Bowie, in Prince George's County, in 2005, which is the subject of foreclosure proceedings.
Mayor Ellen O. Moyer, who cannot seek another term, said Pierre attempted to strike a positive tone at the breakfast meeting at a downtown restaurant, offering some detailed explanations for her financial troubles and promising a thorough accounting at the news conference. The mayor, though, acknowledged that some Democrats are still unsure of Pierre's viability and worry about her effect on other local races.
"There were some issues that needed some specificity, that's what's being collected," Moyer said. "She indicated that she was going to collect specific kinds of information to explain stuff."
The mayor added: "She was straightforward. She is a person who connects and she is a person who is caring person. And it comes through when you talk to her when you see her in person. And she's honest. She has a certain passion."
Nick Berry, a spokesman for the city's Democratic Central Committee, said he could not comment until after the news conference.
Among the breakfast attendees was U.S. Representative Donna Edwards, a Prince George's County Democrat.
A spokesman for Edwards said she and Pierre are longtime friends and the congresswoman was attending a meeting in Annapolis and stopped by briefly.
"It wasn't a planned thing at all," said Dan Weber, the spokesman. "She stopped by to say hello."
