Campaign Manager

The number was untraceable - almost. On Election Night in 2010, The Baltimore Sun's switchboard lit up with reports of a suspicious "robocall": it told voters to relax, that President Obama and Gov.Martin O'Malley had been successful, and that there was nothing left to do but wait for the results. Those who called us said they believed the call was a trick to keep Democratic voters home, and one person provided the number from their caller ID. Naturally, The Sun wanted to know who was behind the call; Democrats including Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake immediately had tried to pin it on former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s campaign, but his camp vehemently denied it and the Republican party was calling for an investigation.

Terry Weldon Taylor, a former public affairs director of a Baltimore health center and veteran political operative, died Wednesday from complications of a stroke at Northwest Hospital. The Windsor Mills resident was 62. "I got to know him through the late Wendell H. Phillips, who was the pastor of Heritage United Church of Christ and had served in the Maryland House of Delegates. Terry had all of the political spirituality of that congregation," said City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke.

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.

Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, the Republican incumbent fighting to keep his seat in Maryland's 6th District, fired what could be considered the first line of attack against his Democratic opponent in the general election race, criticizing John Delaney in a tweet. But hours later, the Bartlett campaign deleted the Twitter post without explanation. On Monday evening, Bartlett's campaign retweeted a comment about Delaney's stances on energy. The item stated that Maryland "gets 51% [of its]

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.

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.

Political consultant Julius Henson returned to the witness stand Monday and placed blame for a controversial Election Day 2010 robocall on a top campaign aide to former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Henson told jurors in Baltimore Circuit Court that he was eating with his granddaughter at a Baltimore McDonald's at 4:42 p.m. Election Day when Ehrlich campaign manager Paul Schurick called him and authorized Henson to arrange the call — which prosecutors...

The number was untraceable - almost. On Election Night in 2010, The Baltimore Sun's switchboard lit up with reports of a suspicious "robocall": it told voters to relax, that President Obama and Gov.Martin O'Malley had been successful, and that there was nothing left to do but wait for the results. Those who called us said they believed the call was a trick to keep Democratic voters home, and one person provided the number from their caller ID. Naturally, The Sun wanted to know who was behind the call; Democrats including Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake immediately had tried to pin it on former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s campaign, but his camp vehemently denied it and the Republican party was calling for an investigation.

Prosecutors want the jury deciding the fate of political consultant Julius Henson to focus on one piece of evidence: the robocall he orchestrated on Election Day 2010 that told Democrats in Baltimore and Prince George's County to "relax" and stay home. That call — which prosecutors say Republican former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s campaign used in an attempt to suppress black votes — is the "primary evidence in the case," said Maryland State Prosecutor Emmet C. Davitt during opening statements Tuesday.

Anticipating that opponents of same-sex marriage will succeed in forcing the recently passed Maryland law allowing gay couples to wed to referendum, its supporters have hired a political veteran to lead the charge to uphold the measure. Josh Levin, who has led congresional campaigns and served in former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign, has signed up to be the new campaign manager for Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the group announced Wednesday. He replaces Sultan Shakir, who will become the group's political director.

Not everything in Tuesday's primary election came in by deadline for the print edition of The Sun . Here's a look at few races that didn't make today's story . - Republican Daniel Bongino beat Richard J. Douglas in the Senate primary by nearly 9,000 votes, unofficial results show. Bongino, a former Secret Service agent, got into the race early and ran an aggressive grassroots campaign. Douglas, a former Pentagon official with an impressive military and legislative background, was never really able to catch up in support or fundraising.

For Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, campaigning in Maryland on Tuesday represented something of a political homecoming. It was nearly 20 years ago that Gingrich, then a Georgia congressman, hatched the outlines of the "Contract with America" during a GOP retreat in Salisbury — a campaign pledge that gave his party control of Congress in 1994 and made him a force in American politics. The former Speaker of the House came to Maryland looking for another political coup: a path to the Republican nomination that by the end of the day seemed increasingly out of reach.

Saying the offenses strike at the "values of this nation," a judge sentenced Paul E. Schurick, the campaign manager of former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., to home detention and community service Thursday for approving automated Election Day telephone calls to keep black voters from the polls. The sentencing went forward even as Schurick's attorneys sought a new trial, alleging that the credibility of a key prosecution witness has been undermined. Baltimore Circuit Judge Lawrence P. Fletcher-Hill spared Schurick prison time by suspending a one-year sentence and forgoing fines.

Lt. Herman Charity, Howard County's first black police officer, is retiring after an illustrious 30-year career that has mirrored social changes in the county.But his working life is not getting easier: He's signed on to be campaign manager for the Police Department's former chief, James N. Robey, who is running for county executive.Charity, 48, will be the first to admit that he's a political novice. But Robey says Charity was the first person he thought of when he decided to run for Howard's top political seat.

Corrected: This item was updated to reflect that that the state disclosure form does not require an officeholder to disclose the amount of income received from outside employment.    A former Bush administration official with political ties in Maryland has filed a formal ethics complaint against Democratic state Sen. Rob Garagiola for failing to disclose income he received as a lobbyist on state disclosure forms. Garagiola has come under fire from Democratic opponent John Delaney in the 6th Congressional District primary race for failing to disclose the income he received from 2001-2003 while working at Washington firm Greenberg Traurig.

Democratic House candidate John Delaney is up with the first negative television advertisement in Maryland's 6th Congressional District, taking to voters a feud with state Sen. Rob Garagiola that to date has mostly played out on the blogosphere. "He's not telling the truth," the ad's narrator says as black and white pictures of Garagiola flash across the screen. "He's hiding that he lobbied for five years, failed to legally disclose nearly $200,000 in lobbying fees, even lobbied to undermine health care reform.