6th District

Democrats living in Maryland's Sixth Congressional District have a rare opportunity in their upcoming primary. There's a different kind of candidate running for the seat held by longtime Republican incumbent Roscoe Bartlett. His name is Milad Pooran. Dr. Pooran is a 35-year-old Iranian-American physician and veteran of the U.S. Air Force Medical Corps — not the profile of a typical congressional aspirant. He's a long shot to win the nomination; even if he does, and despite the fact the district was gerrymandered last year to make it more favorable for the Democrats, a victory in November is no sure thing.

Councilman Timothy D. Murphy is not running on the sam ticket with the two other incumbents in the 6th District race.Murphy, who got more votes than any of the candidates in the past two 6th District races, is campaigning alone and won't say why he turned down an offer to run with Councilmen Joseph J. DiBlasi and Edward L. Reisinger.Meanwhile, DiBlasi and Reisinger have formed their own ticket and say they don't miss Murphy."We're not telling people not to vote for Murphy or anything. We're just not mentioning his name when we campaign," says DiBlasi.

In Essex, where political campaign signs sprout like late-summer mums, Michael J. Collins sits in a back room of his campaign headquarters on gritty Eastern Avenue looking for a fight.But he isn't likely to find one immediately.The incumbent state senator from eastern Baltimore County's 6th District appears the odds-on favorite to lead his ticket to victory in the primary Sept. 13.Republicans are fielding a sizable share of contenders, but in a district where Democrats hold a disproportionate share of registered voters, GOP chances are viewed as slim in November's general election.

Baltimore elections officials said they will begin counting absentee ballots today that could decide the outcome of the Republican primary for the 6th District City Council seat.Four Republican candidates ran for nominations to three seats on the City Council. One candidate, Joseph Brown Jr., held a commanding lead in unofficial results from election night.But three other candidates vying for the other two nominations were within 28 votes of each other, according to unofficial results. The outcome remains uncertain because 48 absentee ballots were mailed out to Republican voters in the district, said Marvin Cheatham, president of the city Elections Board.

Members of opposition political parties in Carroll don't often agree.But both Democrats and Republicans in the county are scratching their heads over the latest proposal for new boundaries for the 6th Congressional District."

Four years ago, the 6th District had just been redistricted from majority white to majority black. A team of white City Council incumbents fought a turf war with three black political neophytes in a district that never had elected a black council member.But in this year's battle by nine candidates for top spots in the Sept. 12 Democratic primary, there is little controversy, a relatively small number of candidates are campaigning extensively but not intensively, and no one is blatantly playing the race card.

Del. Tom Hattery, a farmer and businessman from Mount Airy, soundly defeated Democratic Rep. Beverly B. Byron in a startling upset yesterday, ending the Byron family's dynastic hold on the Western Maryland-based 6th Congressional District.Mr. Hattery, a progressive Democrat, mounted a harsh attack on the seven-term congresswoman for accepting a $35,000 pay raise and for taking taxpayer-financed trips. He defeated Mrs. Byron by a 56 percent-44 percent margin with 97 percent of the precincts reporting.

In the first three months of his freshman year, U.S. Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett looked like a man trying to work himself out of a job.First, he made a remark that offended Asian-Americans. Then, after the Blizzard of 1993, he did not sign a letter requesting federal disaster aid for Maryland. Two weeks after that, his congressional office erupted amid charges that his chief aide had inappropriate physical contact with female staffers.By summer 1993, the scientist turned citizen legislator looked vulnerable, and fellow Republicans were circling.

Democratic hopeful Steve Crawford challenged Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett yesterday to "come out from hiding" and debate him in Westminster next week at a hastily arranged forum designed to meet Bartlett's ground rules.Bartlett, who said early in the campaign he would only take part in debates sponsored by chambers of commerce, skipped an earlier Westminster appearance at the last minute to attend to legislative business in Washington. A Bartlett aide said yesterday the two-term incumbent has an unspecified schedule conflict with the forum Tuesday sponsored by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce and the county League of Women Voters.

Democratic hopeful Steve Crawford challenged Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett yesterday to "come out from hiding" and debate him in Westminster next week at a hastily arranged forum designed to meet Bartlett's ground rules.Bartlett, who said early in the campaign he would only take part in debates sponsored by chambers of commerce, skipped an earlier Westminster appearance at the last minute to attend to legislative business in Washington. A Bartlett aide said yesterday the two-term incumbent has an unspecified schedule conflict with the forum Tuesday sponsored by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce and the county League of Women Voters.