2nd District

Workers for Oz Bengur, a political newcomer running for Congress, plastered scores of red and yellow campaign signs in Towson during the weekend, but quickly removed them yesterday in response to complaints. David Brown, Bengur's spokesman, said the signs were posted by "overzealous campaign workers" who were instructed to drop off signs at the homes of people who had requested them. The last ones were removed from telephone poles on York Road yesterday afternoon. County law prohibits the posting of campaign signs in the public right-of-way along roads, which typically includes utility poles.

Democratic Party leaders are urging Connie Galiazzo DeJuliis, the former Dundalk delegate who ran second in last year's 2nd District Democratic congressional primary, to try again.If she runs, she said, it will be on the theme that conservative Republican plans for budget cuts have gone too far, especially for Medicare. "The Republican agenda has gone too far. There's no human factor. It hits at the heart of families," she said.If Mrs. DeJuliis enters the race, she would be the likely front-runner -- but would face a determined fight from Joseph J. Bish Jr. of Harford County, who won the Harford portion of the district in 1994.

A Baltimore City Council member's son was expected to be released from the hospital today after being shot five times during a robbery attempt in East Baltimore.City police said they had no suspects in the mid-afternoon shooting yesterday of Antonio Johnson, 22, of the 1600 block of E. 31st street. His mother is Councilwoman Paula Johnson-Branch, a Democrat who represents the 2nd District.Mr. Johnson told police he was walking in the 1800 block of E. Lanvale St. about 4:30 p.m. yesterday when a gunman walked up from behind and announced a robbery.

WASHINGTON - C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger was sworn in as the new congressman from Maryland's 2nd District yesterday, and though he spent the last 17 years in local government, his new colleagues say this little fish is swimming just fine in the big pond. Case in point: Shortly after the November election, Ruppersberger was in a meeting of the freshman Democratic caucus when a disagreement broke out over who should be elected the class president, Denise Majette of Georgia or Frank Ballance of North Carolina.

Connie Galiazzo DeJuliis coasted to an easy victory last night in Maryland's 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary, setting up a tough contest with freshman Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. that could be a microcosm of the national presidential campaign.In six other Maryland congressional races involving incumbents, each easily won renomination in their party primaries.In the 2nd District, Joseph John Bish Jr., the Harford County conservative who hoped on this third try to capture the Democratic nomination for the seat, conceded defeat barely an hour after the polls closed.

As she stumps for the 2nd District congressional seat, Democrat Connie Galiazzo DeJuliis often talks about how far she's come since her days as a high school dropout with three young children and a bad marriage.After turning her life around, she served on Baltimore County's Community College Board of Trustees and represented Dundalk for four years in the House of Delegates. Now, she's living in Glen Arm and campaigning to oust Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican.DeJuliis, 50, has come a long way as a candidate, too.A nervous and often tongue-tied public speaker during a losing primary effort two years ago, she has emerged as a confident, informed candidate able to hold her own in debate with Ehrlich, an Ivy League-educated lawyer and former county legislator.

As Democrats nationally dream of taking back control of Congress, party activists in Maryland want to do their part by recapturing the 2nd District seat from the GOP.Hoping to capitalize on the backlash against House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Democrats at the national and state levels want to knock out freshman Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and replace the conservative Republican with the more liberal Connie Galiazzo DeJuliis.This is not to say that the Democrats have conceded the three other congressional seats held by Republicans in Maryland.

Republican Jimmy Mathis has struggled to be heard in the campaign for Maryland's 2nd District congressional seat. He's raised hardly any money. He says the party hierarchy has offered little help other than a handshake. Mathis mocks his troubles in a lighthearted commercial running on a few local cable stations. "I'm Jimmy Mathis, and I approve this message," he says into the camera. A voice-over announcer responds, "Good for you, Jimmy. Now go tell someone who cares." This has been life as a Republican political newcomer in the 2nd District, says Mathis, a 28- year-old video production business owner.

Stuck at a long red light on his way to a Christmas party eight years ago, City Councilman Nicholas C. D'Adamo Jr. started stewing over a political problem and solved it before he stepped on the gas. A dozen people were vying to fill a vacant seat in D'Adamo's council district, none appealing to him. But he had to back someone for the post. As his car idled at Hamilton Avenue and Harford Road, D'Adamo suddenly thought of a community activist he knew he would see at the party: Lois A. Garey.

In what was a surprise to few, community activist Bernard C. "Jack" Young was chosen last night to fill the 2nd District Baltimore City Council seat left vacant by Anthony J. Ambridge in the spring.Young, a 42-year-old clerical manager from the Middle East community, was voted in unanimously and immediately took his seat on the council floor after being sworn in by Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke."I feel good because this is something that I have always wanted," Young said. "I want to be a role model for all the kids in the neighborhood."