Candidacy

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown will formally announce his candidacy for governor Friday at a cookout in his home county of Prince George's. Brown, a Democrat who has been expected to seek the governorship in 2014 since he was elected along with Gov. Martin O'Malley in 2006, will make his run official at a 4:30 p.m. event at Prince George's Community College. A former delegate and a veteran of the war in Iraq, the 51-year-old Brown will follow up the Friday announcement with events Saturday in Silver Spring and in the Waverly neighborhood in Baltimore.

Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown will formally announce his candidacy for governor Friday at a cookout in his home county of Prince George's. Brown, a Democrat who has been expected to seek the governorship in 2014 since he was elected along with Gov. Martin O'Malley in 2006, will make his run official at a 4:30 p.m. event at Prince George's Community College. A former delegate and a veteran of the war in Iraq, the 51-year-old Brown will follow up the Friday announcement with events Saturday in Silver Spring and in the Waverly neighborhood in Baltimore.

Reporter Julie Scharper 's article on this year's Baltimore City mayoral race was excellent ("A daunting lead for the incumbent," Aug. 28). The city is fortunate to have such a strong field of candidates. Joseph T. "Jody" Landers' background in the Northeast Baltimore community, on the City Council and in the real estate market, coupled with his enthusiasm, dedication and thoughtful approach to the city's problems, position him to become a great Baltimore mayor in the tradition of the late William Donald Schaefer.

Former Montgomery County executive Doug Duncan's decision to run for his old seat after a six-year hiatus has changed the political landscape of the state's largest county even as critics argue that new demographics could present a big hurdle to his comeback. Duncan, 57, a Democrat who ended his 2006 campaign for governor abruptly after he was diagnosed with depression, told supporters last week that he will run for county executive in 2014 — setting the stage for a possible showdown with incumbent Isiah "Ike" Leggett that would have statewide political implications.

Students from Westminster High School -- not the school band -- will play patriotic music Saturday when Westminster resident Patricia Holbert announces her candidacy for Carroll County commissioner.The Sun regrets the error.Patricia Holbert of Westminster will formally announce her candidacy for County Commissioner at a campaign rally from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Carroll County Agriculture Center.There will be patriotic music by the Westminster High School Band and refreshments. Those attending are asked to bring a nonperishable food donation for Carroll Food Sunday.

Flanked by local Latino leaders and a large contingent of politicians from his home state, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson formally entered the 2008 presidential campaign yesterday, saying that his thick resume offered him an ability unmatched by others in the race to tackle the country's problems at home and abroad. The Democratic candidate, who has been running for months and has already aired campaign ads, made his announcement in downtown Los Angeles' Millennium Biltmore Hotel. The official entry of Richardson expands what is becoming the most diverse field of mainstream presidential candidates in U.S. history.

Robert Banks came clean the other day about who put him up to running for Congress. He did it at a news conference teased this way: "Banks To Reveal Source of Congressional Candidacy." "I will admit that there is some truth to the idea to run for Congress did not originate solely with me, and that there was in fact some outside influence," Banks said in the release. So, did he confirm the claims of Republican rival Andy Harris - that Rep. Wayne Gilchrest & Co. got Banks in the race to split the anti-incumbent vote?

The chair of the Maryland Republican Party admits he erred by not disavowing his congressional campaign before he started working part-time for Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in June. Alex Mooney began raising money last year for a 2012 bid for Maryland's Sixth District seat, which Bartlett currently holds. After Bartlett announced he was running again - he is a 10-term incumbent in the Western Maryland district - Mooney filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission indicating that he was holding onto the funds he had raised for a 2014 campaign.

The state's highest court will hear the legal challenge to the candidacy qualifications of Democrat Douglas F. Gansler for Maryland attorney general. On Friday, an Anne Arundel County judge rejected the arguments, made by lawyer Jason W. Shoemaker, that Gansler lacks the required 10 years of legal experience in Maryland. Shoemaker - representing Nikos S. Liddy of Bowie, who filed the lawsuit - is the campaign manager for Scott L. Rolle, the Republican nominee for attorney general in the Nov. 7 election.

Crofton resident Sean Logan has announced his candidacy for the House of Delegates' District 33A seat. Logan, a Republican, is a Naval Academy graduate and is vice president of Maryland First Financial Services Corp., where he is a trustee in the liquidation of insolvent companies. He has raised more than $30,000 for his campaign, according to a news release announcing his candidacy.

The chair of the Maryland Republican Party admits he erred by not disavowing his congressional campaign before he started working part-time for Rep. Roscoe Bartlett in June. Alex Mooney began raising money last year for a 2012 bid for Maryland's Sixth District seat, which Bartlett currently holds. After Bartlett announced he was running again - he is a 10-term incumbent in the Western Maryland district - Mooney filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission indicating that he was holding onto the funds he had raised for a 2014 campaign.

Jimmy Smith is fully aware of the expectation that in his second full season with the Ravens and in the NFL, he should be poised to emerge as a starting cornerback. And perhaps because of that sentiment, Smith shrugged off that expectation. “I'm making strides,” he said with a smile after Tuesday's practice at the team's training facility in Owings Mills. “I'm still a young player, but I'm gearing towards that.” There may be some within the organization who are not as patient.

Blaine Young isn't exactly a household name in Maryland, but the prospective contender for the Republican GOP nomination has to be a bit better known in political circles after the splash he made at the annual political rite of passage known as the J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clam Bake in Crisfield Wednesday. Young, president of the Frederick County Board of County Commissioners, brought a busload of supporters to the Eastern Shore fishing port to promote his increasingly credible candidacy.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker was wrong and President Barack Obama is right: Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital deserves closer scrutiny by voters. Whether a brief television ad accomplishes this is another matter. Presidential campaigns are seldom pretty. And this year's race is certain to be worse than most. The rise of super PAC spending and the prospect of tens of millions of dollars spent pounding on the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's more inflammatory sermons or the creation of more websites devoted to the plight of the Romney family dog are especially depressing thoughts.

Former Howard County teachers union President Ann De Lacy and Leslie Kornreich, who ran unsuccessfully in the last election, have filed to run for the Howard County school board, joining incumbents Janet Siddiqui and Ellen Flynn Giles. Their candidacies come months after Howard County officials tried unsuccessfully to alter the makeup of the board to address some residents' concerns about its racial and geographic diversity. If elected, De Lacy, who is African-American, and Kornreich, who is from Hanover — an area where residents have complained about lack of board representation — might quell some of those concerns.

Bob Ehrlich is taking his own advice, as offered in the title of his new book, "Turn This Car Around. " The former governor is putting Maryland in his rear-view mirror. "The book is not for a Maryland audience," the former governor said Tuesday as he launched a local and national media blitz to promote the book. "It was written with a national perspective in mind. " While Ehrlich still lives in Annapolis, he says the book, subtitled "The Road Map to Restoring America," is his pitch for a voice in national politics after having lost his last two campaigns for Maryland governor.

LOS ANGELES -- California Gov. Pete Wilson's long-delayed announcement for the presidency has been put off until after he and the legislature come to terms on a new state budget -- a delay that could push Mr. Wilson's official entry to mid-July or later.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas -- Vowing to balance the federal budget or quit after one term, Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas officially launched himself into the 1996 Republican presidential contest yesterday.An outspoken enemy of big government, Mr. Gramm did not disappoint a crowd of 2,000 supporters, who stood beneath turquoise skies on a balmy late-winter morning to whoop and holler him into the race."Our government has not lived in the real world for 40 years," the senator said on the campus of Texas A&M University, where he once taught economics.

Once again, temporarily at least, scandal has mesmerized American politics. This time the target is Herman Cain, the up-from-nowhere restaurant executive who is battling back against the latest sexual harassment or misconduct allegations that have frequently intruded on presidential campaigns in recent memory. They often die hard, as in the case of another present (and past) presidential hopeful, Newt Gingrich, whose earlier infidelity with his current wife haunts his attempted political resurrection as she campaigns cheerfully at his side.

Reporter Julie Scharper 's article on this year's Baltimore City mayoral race was excellent ("A daunting lead for the incumbent," Aug. 28). The city is fortunate to have such a strong field of candidates. Joseph T. "Jody" Landers' background in the Northeast Baltimore community, on the City Council and in the real estate market, coupled with his enthusiasm, dedication and thoughtful approach to the city's problems, position him to become a great Baltimore mayor in the tradition of the late William Donald Schaefer.