Democratic Candidates

Greg Pecoraro was re-elected chairman and Philip S. Benzil vice chairman of the Carroll County Democratic Central Committee at the organization's first post-primary meeting Thursday.Cynthia H. Cummings was elected secretary and Barbara S. F. Pease treasurer.The committee will be meeting with Democratic candidates for county and state offices in the coming months to help with campaign strategies, said Pecoraro.

John Delaney, a Democratic candidate in Maryland's 6th District, is calling for 12-year term limits for members of Congress, an extended “cooling off” period before lawmakers can become lobbyists and a plan to allow some illegal immigrants to stay in the country, his campaign said Tuesday. The proposals were included in a broader platform document posted on the Potomac financier's campaign website. Though many of the ideas are short on specifics, the document represents a shift in focus toward issues after weeks in which the two most active candidates in the Democratic primary have lobbed attacks at one another.

WASHINGTON -- This year's congressional races were the costliest in history, the chairman of the Federal Election Commission said yesterday.Preliminary tallies of reports on money spent through Nov. 28 by general election candidates showed "the largest numbers ever," Trevor Potter said. With more than 90 percent of the post-election reports in, the study showed:* Spending by Senate and House candidates who survived primaries was $596 million -- up 17 percent from 1992, 50 percent from 1990.

The North Carroll Democratic Club will meet Feb. 7 at the Longview Nursing Home, 3332 N. Main St., Manchester.Democratic candidates for the 6th Congressional District, nonpartisan candidates for the Board of Education and candidates for delegate to the Democratic National Convention have been invited to the meeting.Dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. and costs $8.25. The program will begin at 7:30 p.m.Reservations for dinner are required by 4:30 p.m. Friday. Information: 239-7139 or 374-6271.FireHampstead: Hampstead, Manchester and Lineboro assisted Baltimore County with a house fire in the 4200 block of Upper Beckleysville Road at 7:31 p.m. Monday.

The North Carroll Democratic Club will meet at 7 p.m. today at North Carroll Senior Center. Pat Matsko, director of the Carroll County Board of Elections, will demonstrate the new AccuVote touch-screen voting system that will be used in the March 2 primary. A machine will be available for practice. A forum of Democratic candidates for the 6th Congressional District race will be held. Participating candidates will include Kenneth T. Bosley, James Daniel Benson, Rodney D. Fox, Richard Nacewicz, Robert J. Rhudy, Kevin M. Shaffer and Ty Ungelbower.

Former Del. C. Anthony Muse will announce today plans to jump into the increasingly crowded race for Prince George's County executive in 2002. Muse, a Democrat, said yesterday that he will form an exploratory committee and begin raising funds for a campaign to succeed current executive Wayne K. Curry. He said the chances he will run are "about 98 percent." Muse, elected in 1994, lost a primary challenge to state Sen. Gloria G. Lawlah in 1998 by about 200 votes out of 12,000. He joins Democratic candidates who include Del. Rushern L. Baker III, State's Attorney Jack B. Johnson and Councilman M. H. "Jim" Estepp.

In this corner, the Democrats. And in this corner . . . the Redskins.Who do you think will win?They weren't thinking about sports when the kickoff for the presidential debate season was scheduled for 6:30 tonight on NBC (WMAR-TV, Channel 2 in Baltimore).But football -- specifically the Washington Redskins and the way CBS uses late Sunday games as a lead-in to boost ratings for its prime-time shows -- could be the biggest factor determining how many voters tune in to see six Democratic candidates spar on television.

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Jim Lennane can't buy respect.He says he's spending $750,000 of his own money to win the Republican presidential nomination. He has run 1,500 advertisements -- more than President Bush -- but the news media and his opponents ignore him."Hey, I'm not a kook. I've got a good business career, I've got experience," protests Mr. Lennane, 52, a Florida resident who made money building a computer company.With his commercials airing day and night, Mr. Lennane stands out in a crowd of 53 minor candidates -- 23 Republicans and 30 Democrats -- who have paid $1,000 each to be listed on the Feb. 18 New Hampshire primary ballot.

When Carroll County voters step into polling booths during Tuesday's primary election, only one locally related race will be on the ballot: the 6th Congressional District. Seven Democratic candidates are vying for their party's nomination for the congressional seat. Frederick County State's Attorney Scott L. Rolle is challenging Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett in the Republican primary. Bartlett is seeking a seventh term in the heavily Republican district, which includes Allegany, Carroll, Frederick, Garrett and Washington counties, and parts of Baltimore, Harford and Montgomery counties.

WASHINGTON -- Maryland and Georgia, two March 3 primary states touting themselves as key stops on the road to the Democratic nomination, will each hold candidate forums on Sunday. And the five Democratic candidates are deciding whether to attend one -- or both.Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton expects to attend both forums, said a campaign official. While former Massachusetts Sen. Paul E. Tsongas has not made a commitment, organizers in each state are expecting him.Tom Cowley, executive director of the Maryland Democratic Party, said that only Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey is uncertain whether he will attend.