1st District

AMERICAN CORNER -- In the heartland of Maryland's 1st Congressional District, where towns not much bigger than their zip codes have such inviting names as Friendship and Harmony, Republican Thomas Jones says the things that make GOP candidates wince."

Republican Wayne T. Gilchrest, a folksy Kent County high school teacher pledging "honesty and integrity," captured his first political office last night, beating 1st District Representative Roy P. Dyson, a five-term incumbent stained by questions about his ethics.Mr. Gilchrest beat Mr. Dyson by 57 percent to 43 percent, capturing all but three of the 13 counties in the district. The congressman carried only his home county of St. Mary's, along with Worcester and Somerset counties on the Eastern Shore.

Bea Gaddy, the celebrated East Baltimore activist for the poo and homeless, has announced her candidacy for a 1st District City Council seat, declaring that "to do a better job of helping people rebuild their lives, I need to be where the laws are made."Mrs. Gaddy, 57, is currently searching for a qualified volunteer to manage her campaign. She said she would be filing as a Democrat in about two weeks for the primary in September."It's time to stop feeling that I can not compete with the power structure," Mrs. Gaddy said yesterday at the soup kitchen and homeless shelter she operates at 140 N. Collington St., near Patterson Park.

EASTON -- Maryland Congress man Tom McMillen has enlisted the aid of an unusual campaign ally -- a squawking radio character named Pete the Parrot -- to bash his opponent in the tight race for the 1st District congressional seat.In an ad that began airing yesterday on radio stations throughout the 1st District, Pete the Parrot accuses Republican incumbent Wayne T. Gilchrest of breaking a pledge to refuse money from special interest or campaign groups as well as a promise to distribute his congressional pay raise to charities.

In a race that has split moderate and conservative Republicans, 1st District congressional opponents Wayne T. Gilchrest and David Fischer - along with their supporters in rival GOP organizations - are spending unprecedented amounts for radio and television ads in a last-minute push before Tuesday's primary election. Gilchrest, a six-term incumbent who has not faced serious opposition in a decade, is setting what his staff calls a "high water" mark for fund-raising in the district . Much of that money - $275,000 according to the most recent campaign finance reports - has gone for radio and television spots featuring endorsements from President Bush and Maryland gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. One 30-second spot on television stations in Baltimore and Salisbury quotes a letter of endorsement from Bush, then includes a voice-over by Ehrlich, who calls Gilchrest a "thoughtful, reasoned voice on key conservative issues."

WASHINGTON -- After weeks of shopping for a political haven, Representative Tom McMillen, D-Md.-4th, announced yesterday that he would run in the new congressional district that combines a portion of his home turf of Anne Arundel County, a slice of Baltimore and the sprawling Eastern Shore.The 39-year-old congressman plans on officially kicking off his campaign Wednesday with a three-day 13-stop tour of the district that stretches from Curtis Bay in Baltimore to Crisfield on the southernmost end of the Shore.

Saying he can solve the nation's energy problems, William J. Chesshire, a self-employed custom homebuilder from Arnold, announced his candidacy for the 1st Congressional District at a bus stop Saturday.The 31-year-old independent has raised no money for his campaign. Buthe said his ideas -- not his pocketbook -- will carry him through and get his name known among the voters."I'm running on my ideas," Chesshire said, taking refuge in a covered bus stop in Annapolis to avoid the rain Saturday.

Democratic Rep. Roy P. Dyson and Republican Wayne T. Gilchrest began preparing today for a 1st District re-match following hard-fought primary victories.Dyson barely beat Gilchrest in 1988 and last night the five-term incumbent suggested another tough race was ahead."At this point [it's] a very interesting race," said Dyson, who predicted victory but declined to speculate by what margin. "I'm not a betting man."While Dyson was scheduled to greet workers at Dresser Industries early today in Salisbury, Gilchrest was planning to meet with Republican national congressional campaign officials to map strategy.

EASTON -- Voters searching for big differences between 1st District congressional candidates Wayne T. Gilchrest and Tom McMillen need look only as far as their election finance reports.Representative McMillen, a Democrat, has spent more on his campaign in the last three months than Republican Representative Gilchrest has raised in the past year. And while it's clear that Mr. McMillen has the edge when it comes to raising money, the Gilchrest campaign is attempting to turn many of the Democrat's benefactors -- political action committees and other out-of-state contributors -- into an election liability.

John LaFerla, the Chestertown physician who narrowly lost the Democratic primary in the 1st Congressional District in April, has won the party's support to challenge Republican Rep. Andy Harris as a write-in candidate, he said Friday. LaFerla, 63, enters the race after primary winner Wendy Rosen withdrew this week amid allegations that she was registered and had voted in Maryland and Florida. Her name will remain on the Nov. 6 ballot because the deadline to remove it has passed. LaFerla said the 12 Democratic central committees in the 1st District, which includes the Eastern Shore and parts of Baltimore, Harford, Carroll and Cecil counties, had voted to support him. "We're ready to fight for every vote in all 12 counties," he said in a statement.