Candidates For Governor

Both major candidates for governor of Maryland now urge their supporters to vote absentee - pretend they're going to be away on Election Day. It's a high-level vote of no confidence in the system. Even as they seek the highest office in the state, the contenders say they don't trust the system that would take them there. How should the rest of us feel? The late, lamented primary election's biggest loser was, in case you hadn't noticed, public confidence in the election system. It's a crisis that has provoked defensive reactions from the candidates, but has not inspired anyone to take charge and fix the problems in a transparent way. Oh sure, there's hand-wringing and explaining and demonstrating.

Marylanders get a chance next year to see if they can improve the political game by paying for it.Barring another delay, about $2.7 million will be available to help finance races for governor in the primary and general election.Forces for good government hope public financing will shift power away from $1,000-givers by providing public dollars to candidates if they accept spending limits."The current system is corrupting because it encourages even well-intentioned people to go where the money is," says Phil Andrews, executive director of Common Cause of Maryland.

Candidates preparing for the races of 1994 will spend th next few months raising money, worrying about image and pondering the quirks of public life.Take the Democratic candidates for governor:Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke wonders how to cope with the results of his politically daring call in 1988 for a debate on decriminalization of drug abuse in America. Then and now, Mr. Schmoke was asking for agreement that what we are doing now doesn't work.Though many would agree with his assessment, many disagree with his solution even as a debating point.

It's running mate time. A month from today, every candidate for governor must have a lieutenant governor to call his or her own. They run as a ticket in Maryland, joined at the hip.Coming up with the ideal partner is never easy.Often, candidates for governor seek geographic balance. Thus, the first time Marylanders chose a team for the top state offices, in 1974, Gov. Marvin Mandel of Baltimore ran with Blair Lee III of Montgomery County. It was an excellent marriage.The next governor, Harry R. Hughes, chose his mate in desperation -- and paid the price.

WASHINGTON - Just as Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend fell short in her bid to become Maryland's first woman governor last night, woman gubernatorial candidates struggled to claim statehouses elsewhere throughout the country. In a departure from past years when most women candidates for governor were long shots, women made strong showings in all nine states where they ran. They were victorious in at least three races - the most wins that women gubernatorial candidates have ever picked up in a single year.

Way back when Ed Norris was headed for the slammer, political prognosticators peered into their crystal balls to see how the fallen police chief would affect the coming governor's race. Any taint on Mayor Martin O'Malley and Gov. Robert Ehrlich would cancel each other out, soothsayers figured, because they'd both hired the guy as their top cop. The only unknown was whether Doug Duncan would make some hay. What a difference a couple years, a completed prison stint and a hit radio show make.

Hundreds of politically savvy Marylanders are playing it safe by making campaign contributions to more than one candidate in the gubernatorial election, a telltale sign of a close race, experts say. Steakhouse owners, concrete contractors and two nursing homes were among 189 donors who gave to both Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley and Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Sixty-five gave to both Ehrlich and Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan. Donors say they encourage a healthy political debate by spreading their largesse across the field of candidates, but critics argue the practice is about playing the odds - and the odds of giving to a winner are good for those who give to every candidate.

MIDDLEBURG, Va. - As surely as the air crisps along with the apple crop and the horsy set wraps up its fall steeplechase circuit, Virginians head to the polls. They relish their politics here in the state that considers itself the cradle of democracy, which is a good thing because Virginia's election cycle produces a big race almost every November. Tomorrow, voters will elect a governor, as they do every four years because of the office's single-term limit. But while that normally guarantees a spirited free-for-all, this year's contest has been noticeably subdued: A candidate's staff and volunteers can outnumber "real" voters at campaign events; grip-and-grin swings through Main Street businesses have turned up precious few shoppers' hands to shake or babies to cuddle.

GOP CandidatesAfter Anne Arundel County Executive Bob Neall declined to run for governor, an editorial claimed that the state Republican Party was in disarray. It predicted that unless something was done soon, all statewide Republican office-seekers were doomed to defeat.Nothing could be further from the truth.Not only does the Republican Party offer Maryland voters Dick Bennett, a highly qualified candidate for attorney general, but the top declared GOP candidates for governor are far superior choices to the ultra-liberal, spend-it-while-we-can candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for governor.

IN THE SPRINGTIME of his 65th year, having served in the Baltimore City Council for 12 years, having served as council president for an additional four years and mayor of Baltimore for 15 years, it occurred to William Donald Schaefer that he might finally be qualified to run the entire state. Thus, he finally forsook the grubby municipal pothole for the fast-lane highway to governor of Maryland. I mention this today because Schaefer seems part of a bygone sensibility, which includes those such as Theodore McKeldin and Marvin Mandel and Millard Tawes and Blair Lee III and even Parris Glendening.