Campaign Committee

WASHINGTON - Between them, Andy Harris and Frank Kratovil have raised more than $4 million in pursuit of the seat now held by Rep. Wayne T. Gilchrest. Add to that the outside money now flooding the 1st District, and Maryland's most competitive House race this year could be the state's most expensive ever. So what does the anti-tax Club for Growth want in return for the $1.8 million it has sent Harris' way for the Republican primary and the general election this year?

WASHINGTON -- Just before 7 tonight, the limousines will begin lining up at the Washington Hilton, disgorging the nation's most powerful Democrats -- along with lobbyists, donors and corporate heavies who are paying $1,500 for a seat at the dinner table and a chance to mingle.Although Bill Clinton charged in the 1992 presidential campaign that "American politics is being held hostage by big money interests" and congressional Democrats are pushing a campaign finance reform bill, critics say that tonight's dinner typifies business as usual in the capital.

The campaign committee of Lt. Gov.-elect Michael S. Steele paid more than $50,000 to a Washington temporary employment agency that is at the center of an investigation into alleged illegal payments to Election Day campaign workers. The disclosure of the payment in recently filed campaign finance reports comes as an investigation by the state prosecutor's office is moving toward completion. Several attorneys who represent people affiliated with the GOP campaign said last week that they expect criminal charges to be filed - though all insist their clients did nothing wrong.

A researcher for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee used her supervisor's work credit card to obtain a credit history for Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele, answering personal questions on a Web site as if she were Steele, court documents filed yesterday show. The details were revealed in a plea agreement entered by researcher Lauren B. Weiner and submitted in U.S. District Court in Washington, and provide a glimpse into the world of political opposition research at the highest levels in Washington.

Once political allies, now courtroom enemies, Lt. Gov. Melvin A. Steinberg and his former campaign coordinator, Theodore G. Venetoulis, are locked in a dispute over Mr. Venetoulis' brief stint at the wheel of the Steinberg gubernatorial effort.Mr. Venetoulis, a former Baltimore County executive and political analyst, filed suit against Mr. Steinberg and his campaign committee Dec. 29, claiming he was dismissedwithout cause in October after less than five months on the job.The lieutenant governor and his committee counter-sued the same day, alleging financial irregularities by Mr. Venetoulis involving payment of his salary, campaign bills and expense accounts.

Anne Arundel County Councilman Thomas W. Redmond, who won election in 1994 campaigning as a fiscally responsible businessman, disclosed yesterday that he had declared bankruptcy with $1.6 million in debts.The 50-year-old salvage yard owner, who has property worth $3.2 million, filed for Chapter 11 protection from his creditors to halt the auction of properties in Ocean City for which he had been failing to make mortgage payments, according to his lawyer, Alexander Gordon.During an emotional civil court hearing in Annapolis, a judge found Redmond in contempt of court for failing to honor a 10-year-old divorce agreement to remove his ex-wife's name from one of the financially troubled properties -- an apartment house with several building code violations that burned in January.

State Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has taken a strong lead among prospective Democratic candidates for governor in 2014 in terms of money in the bank, but his lead narrows when his fundraising last year is compared with that of three possible rivals. In a report filed Tuesday, the deadline for filing state campaign finance reports for activity during 2011, Gansler reports having almost $4.1 million on hand. That puts him far ahead of three others who are widely expected to run in the Democratic primary to succeed Gov. Martin O'Malley, who is prevented by term limits from running again.

Meeting for their third debate over Baltimore County's neighborhood renewal law, County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger and state Del. James F. Ports Jr. argued last night over whether it is proper to use county funds to urge voters to approve the plan in a Nov. 7 referendum. County staffers have spent hours briefing Ruppersberger and gathering information as they work to win support for the renewal plan - often referred to as Senate Bill 509 - at the ballot box. They've produced overhead transparencies and printed brief brochures - single folded pages - to distribute at meetings.

As state Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell prepares to leave the General Assembly, he must decide what to do with the money he had amassed to bankroll his political future. Bromwell, a Baltimore County Democrat who recently announced he will give up his Senate seat to head the state's Injured Workers' Insurance Fund, has a campaign fund of about $225,000. State law allows him wide flexibility in using the money - much of it raised from industries that courted him as chairman of the powerful Finance Committee.

Republican Senate candidate Alan L. Keyes accused The Baltimore Sun of participating in a political "drive-by shooting" by publishing a story yesterday on a Democratic political group's allegation that Mr. Keyes broke federal election laws in his race against Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski.Standing on the front steps of the newspaper's Calvert Street headquarters, the GOP candidate blasted The Sun and The Evening Sun for reporting the allegations before he was able to obtain a copy of the charges and rebut them in detail.