2nd District

PARTLY DUE to a good economy and partly due to the Ruppersberger administration's aptly placed priorities, Baltimore County has prospered the past four years.That makes life easier for county council incumbents up for reelection. The lack of public discontent is reflected in the dearth of candidates; four of the six incumbents seeking another term face no primary opposition.District 1, the southwestern area of the county, has no contested primary. Democratic incumbent Stephen G. Samuel Moxley will face John D. Manley, husband of former 1st District councilwoman Berchie Manley, in the Nov. 3 general election.

An unlikely pair will be appearing on the state's political stage soon.Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., the Republican from Maryland's 2nd District, has signed up a new political director -- Paul E. Schurick, a Democratic operative whose name is virtually synonymous with that of his former boss, William Donald Schaefer.Schurick, 41, who had worked for Schaefer since Schaefer was mayor of Baltimore, first as a bureaucrat in the city's job training program and later as Governor Schaefer's chief of staff, will start with Ehrlich's campaign organization Dec. 1."

In the end, Democrat Connie Galiazzo DeJuliis didn't come close in her bid for the 2nd District congressional seat -- not even as close as one of her most vociferous political foes had predicted.Despite a well-financed, union-backed campaign to unseat Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., she captured less than the 40 percent that Baltimore County Councilman Louis L. DePazzo, a rival Dundalk Democrat and Ehrlich supporter, thought she would.And despite her Dundalk roots and appeal to workers, she did no better against Ehrlich than former Del. Gerry L. Brewster of Towson did in 1994.

Despite the concerted efforts of the governor and national labor unions, Baltimore County Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. swamped Democratic challenger Connie Galiazzo DeJuliis yesterday in Maryland's 2nd District congressional race."

TWO YEARS AGO, this newspaper optimistically endorsed Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. for Maryland's 2nd District in Congress. As a state delegate, he had a record of avoiding partisanship. He used his intellect to help resolve major problems.He is still seen as a capable politician, a rising star in a Maryland GOP that needs new talent. But his freshman term on Capitol Hill proved disappointing. Succumbing to talk of a "Republican Revolution" that accompanied the GOP takeover of Congress, he was too obedient a disciple of Speaker Newt Gingrich, with whom he voted 90 percent of the time.

AS THE RACE for the 2nd Congressional District grinds toward resolution, Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has left me scratching my head, wondering why a guy who's a living recipe for political success would squander the opportunity to walk squarely down the center of the high road.Elections aren't over 'til they're over, but Mr. Ehrlich has enjoyed the advantage since the beginning. The 2nd District -- northern, central and eastern Baltimore County, Harford County and Pasadena -- consistently votes Republican in federal elections.

When Gail Keller was a teen-ager in Edgemere, he earned $10 a week one Depression summer working 12-hour days, seven days a week, handling swimmers' towels at old Bay Shore Park."

The race for Maryland's 2nd Congressional District seat has ** turned nasty and negative, as the candidates trade attacks on each other's record in increasingly personal terms.The slide started with a televised cartoon ad from Democrat Connie Galiazzo DeJuliis that accuses Republican incumbent Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. of being "clueless" because of his party-line votes to cut Medicare spending.Ehrlich says the cartoon is "nasty, silly and wrong" -- and responded last night with his ad bringing up an old charge that DeJuliis missed nearly 1,000 votes during her four years in the General Assembly.

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."

Community activists Bernard Young and Edward K. Hargadon are the front-runners for the vacant 2nd District City Council seat, City Hall sources said last night.At a City Hall forum last night, the two men and 10 other candidates said why they should be chosen fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Anthony J. Ambridge, now the city's real estate officer.Second District council members Paula Johnson Branch and Robert L. Douglass are expected to announce their choice Oct. 21. If both agree on a candidate, council approval is likely.