Campaign Manager

Baltimore County Councilman Kenneth N. Oliver's endorsement of Joseph Bartenfelder over Kevin Kamenetz in the race for county executive has cost him his campaign manager and chairman, who quit when a disagreement about the decision came to a head earlier this month. Billy Chase, an Owings Mills lawyer who managed both of Oliver's previous campaigns, said he and Oliver had talked about the endorsement several times, and when Oliver made it clear he had made up his mind, Chase handed over his resignation on Aug. 13. "My position was he needed to stay neutral," said Chase, although he acknowledged that he would not have quit if Oliver had endorsed Kamenetz, who has served alongside Bartenfelder on the council since 1994.

Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, widely considered to be eyeing a race for governor in 2014, has hired the Democratic campaign aide credited with turning around John Delaney's successful run for Congress last year. Justin Schall, who served as Delaney's campaign manager and worked as an aide to the congressman as he took office, will join Brown as a senior political advisor. The hire is a clear indication Brown is staffing up his political operation in anticipation of a statewide run. Schall, 39, who previously managed campaigns in New York, Indiana, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, splashed on to the Maryland political scene during last year's Democratic primary race in the 6th Congressional District.

Although former Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is still officially pondering a race for his old office, Gov. Martin O'Malley is eager for the battle he thinks is coming, according to the governor's campaign manager, Tom Russell. Russell had harsh words for the former governor, a Republican, but was also frank about the problems Democrats face in the heated national political atmosphere this year. He spoke to about 30 members of the Columbia Democratic Club in a small community center meeting room in the planned town Wednesday night.

Henry S. Baker Jr., a retired banker and community leader, died Saturday from complications of a tumor at Keswick Multi-Care Center. The longtime Monkton resident was 86. The son of Henry S. Baker Sr., treasurer of the Johns Hopkins University, and Frances Innes Robinson, a registered nurse who worked for Dr. Howard A. Kelly, a founder of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Henry Scott Baker Jr. was born in Baltimore and raised on St. Georges Road in Roland...

Although former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has yet to officially enter the race for his old office, Gov. Martin O'Malley is eager to take him on, according to the governor's campaign manager, Tom Russell. Russell, a longtime Democratic campaigner, said the current heated political conditions can't help but entice Ehrlich into a rematch against O'Malley. " Maryland is a Democratic state, but this is one heck of a Republican year," Russell said. "Right now, incumbents are suffering, and Democrats are suffering."

Christopher F. Pfrommer III, a former political campaign manager and administrative aide, died Monday after a fall in his home in the 100 block of W. University Parkway. He was 64.Mr. Pfrommer, a former science reporter for The Evening Sun, managed the successful 1962 campaign of 2nd District Congressman Clarence D. Long, and later served on his staff, in charge of the congressman's legislative agenda and constituent complaints.In 1971, he left Mr. Long's staff to become a press aide during William Donald Schaefer's first mayoral bid. The next year, he managed Charles B. Anderson Jr.'s successful campaign to become Harford County's first county executive and later headed the county's 1976 bicentennial commission.

Mayor Martin O'Malley replaced his campaign manager yesterday and elevated his brother and two Maryland political operatives to lead his effort to win the Democratic primary election in September. O'Malley campaign officials say the decision was mutual between outgoing manager Jonathan A. Epstein and the mayor. Replacing Epstein will be Josh White, former head of the Maryland Democratic Party, who became deputy campaign manager in March, according to a campaign statement issued last night.

Thomas Wayne Rimrodt, a Republican campaign manager who had been an assistant secretary in the Maryland Department of Planning until early this year, died of brain cancer Sunday at St. Joseph Medical Center in Towson. The Parkville resident was 41. Born in San Diego, Mr. Rimrodt earned an undergraduate degree at California State University at Hayward and two master's degrees - in public administration and in political science - from Claremont Graduate University in California. After serving as the city manager of Atherton, Calif.

Ellen R. Sauerbrey, whose campaign for governor has been without a press secretary since the previous one was forced out in November, has hired a veteran Republican operative with local roots to take over the job.Jim Dornan, 38, who has experience as a campaign manager and Capitol Hill staffer, started work yesterday at Sauerbrey's headquarters in Towson. He will handle press relations and share duties speaking for the campaign with consultant Carol Hirschburg."I'm ecstatic to be here. This is the first time I've been able to work for a legitimate Republican candidate in the state of Maryland," said Dornan, who grew up in Baltimore, Towson and Bowie.

Less than four months before the Democratic primary, Gov. Parris N. Glendening has fired his campaign manager after a contentious run-in over the day-to-day handling of his re-election effort.In the first shake-up of his campaign, Glendening ousted Tim Phillips on Tuesday and announced yesterday that he was hiring Karen White, an experienced operative now running the Idaho Democratic Party.Sources familiar with the situation said the governor and some of his closest advisers, including his wife, Frances Hughes Glendening, had clashed with Phillips in recent days, questioning some of his day-to-day campaign decisions.

A broad coalition of donors — including casino giant MGM, Delta Airlines, a Washington nightclub and thousands of individuals across the country — together gave nearly $6 million to the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland, providing a financial advantage that supporters say was critical to the effort's success. Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the main group working for approval of Question 6 on this month's ballot, raised $5.9 million — more than twice as much as opponents of the measure, according to campaign finance reports filed this week.

I regret some unintended implications in my quotes in Saturday's story regarding the freedom to marry win in Maryland ("Gay marriage supporters seized victory after tough start," Nov. 10). Whatever the occasional disagreements, we owe a huge debt of thanks to the local leaders and families, campaign manager Josh Levin and his team, Gov. Martin O'Malley and key lawmakers, Equality Maryland, Human Rights Campaign, the ACLU, the NAACP, Republicans and Democrats, and the many, many volunteers and voices who joined in making the case to voters that led to victory alongside our movement's wins in other states.

Voters in Maryland's 6th Congressional District have been hearing a familiar Arkansas drawl on the phone this week: It's Bill Clinton calling, letting them know he thinks the world of Democratic candidate John Delaney. All over the state, Marylanders have been receiving robocalls from celebrities and elected officials delivering messages for or against state ballot issues or political candidates. The voices of "Desperate Housewives" actress Eva Longoria and magician David Copperfield tout the advantages of expanded gambling.

Inevitably, in all the tributes to former Sen. George McGovern upon his death at 90, his landslide defeat in the 1972 presidential election at the hands of Richard Nixon shared top billing with his fights against America's misguided wars in Vietnam and Iraq. That political loss was undeniably historic in that he won only resolutely Democratic Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. But it also was ironic in that despite Mr. McGovern's warnings on the campaign trail of Nixon's malfeasance in the still-unraveling Watergate scandal, the voters chose a crook over a man of unchallenged honesty.

Democratic challenger John Delaney outraised longtime Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett by a 6-to-1 margin in the first half of October and had more cash on hand going into the final weeks of the campaign, according to figures released by the Federal Election Commission. In the state's most competitive congressional race, Delaney raised more than $251,000 between Oct. 1 and Oct.17 — a period that included a Washington fundraiser headlined by former President Bill Clinton. Delaney, a Montgomery County banker, had $173,000 on hand.

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.

In the second sign of internal unrest in the past week, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ellen R. Sauerbrey's volunteer executive director for Montgomery County is quitting because of disputes with the political professional brought in to run her campaign statewide.Allen Prettyman, who had headed the campaign in Maryland's largest county since August of last year, said yesterday that he is resigning effective Dec. 1 because of personal and philosophical differences with campaign manager David Albert.

Baltimore Comptroller Joan M. Pratt is hiring her campaign manager and former investment partner in a string of rental properties to run the city's real estate office.Julius Henson, a rising political strategist who was the architect of Ms. Pratt's victory to the city's third-highest elected position, is to start this week.As real estate officer, Mr. Henson will oversee the city's portfolio of 350 buildings valued at $3.2 billion. He will report directly to Ms. Pratt and will be paid $79,900 under a one-year contract up for approval tomorrow by the Board of Estimates.

Gambling giant Penn National Gaming Inc. has spent $5.5 million to limit gambling in Maryland — the latest move in a casino-vs.-casino battle that could saturate the airwaves and overwhelm other ballot initiatives this fall. The Penn National spending came days after MGM Resorts Inc. put $2.4 million into a campaign to support an expansion of gambling. MGM plans to debut its second pro-gambling television commercial Wednesday. The spending brings the total committed on both sides to $7.9 million, a stunning figure given that referendum campaigns are just beginning.