Lieutenant Governor

THE VALUE OF incumbency can be enormous, and it seems that few candidates appreciate that more than Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. In the last couple of years, Townsend, who is widely expected to run for governor next year, has taken full advantage of the tools at her disposal to increase her public profile. She has made public service announcements about stolen cars that have aired widely. She starred in another ad for Maryland Public Television. And then there are the huge pictures of her that greet passengers arriving at Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

LT. GOV. Michael S. Steele is scheduled to depart today for a 10-day visit to Ghana and South Africa, leading a contingent of nine other state officials and representatives of 27 companies developing business ties between Maryland and Africa. "It's the largest Maryland trade mission ever to go to Africa," said Steele, the first African-American elected to statewide office in Maryland. Fourteen of the represented companies are owned by African-Americans, according to the lieutenant governor's office.

Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. picked state Republican Party Chairman Michael S. Steele as his gubernatorial running mate yesterday, declaring that two self-made candidates were joining forces to form an "opportunity ticket" crossing racial and geographic boundaries. Steele, 43, is a Prince George's County resident and former corporate attorney who has spent two years trying to rebuild a teetering GOP organization shut out of statewide office since Charles McC. Mathias left the U.S. Senate 16 years ago. He has never held elected office but is credited with engineering the party's most recent victory, a decision last month by the state Court of Appeals to overturn legislative district maps drawn by Gov. Parris N. Glendening and other top Democrats.

One thing about Michael Steele: He's not afraid to mix it up. Push the former Maryland lieutenant governor in an interview, and he'll come right back at you. That's how it went last week with the Johns Hopkins University graduate when he was asked for his reaction to those who say MSNBC hired him recently to be the channel's token conservative — a right-wing, Republican version of the role Alan Colmes played on Fox News. "What's my reaction?" Steele said. "Tune in, that's my reaction.

Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele has raised more than $400,000 for a possible Senate bid, and former Baltimore health commissioner Peter L. Beilenson has the early fundraising lead in the contest for Maryland's open 3rd District Congressional seat, according to new campaign finance reports. Though Steele has not announced his intentions for next year's election, he has been courted by national Republican luminaries and has about $350,000 in cash on hand. That's more than all the declared candidates to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes' seat, except for U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, a Democrat who raised $837,000 in the past three months and has $1.5 million in the bank.

There shall be a lieutenant governor, who shall have only the duties delegated to him by the governor ... Section 1A, Maryland Constitution CHRISTOPHER C. Cox must have done one heck of a job as Maryland's lieutenant governor. When he was finished in 1868, nobody had to redo it for more than 100 years. The office that House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. is apparently aspiring to has had a curious history - in its brief 19th-century incarnation and since its reappearance in 1970. For one of its occupants, it led to the office of governor - albeit in an acting capacity - and not for long.

The annual Freedom Fund dinner, a major fund-raiser for the Carroll County's NAACP branch, is expected to raise thousands of dollars tonight for the organization's behind-the-scenes efforts to fight discrimination in areas such as housing and employment. The guest speaker, Michael S. Steele, was chosen because he is the first African-American to be elected lieutenant governor in Maryland, said John Lewis, president of the Carroll branch. "His election sets the tone for a bit of history, and we are making a point of it," Lewis said.

Recalling the birthday of one of the nation's renowned civil rights leaders, Michael S. Steele became Maryland's first black lieutenant governor yesterday and vowed to become a leader for the state's under-represented communities. After being sworn in by the state's first African-American chief judge of the Court of Appeals, Steele noted the symbolism of having his first day on the job occur on the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday. "Forty years ago, Martin Luther King had a dream," Steele said in his inaugural address.

LT. GOV. MICHAEL S. Steele has no plans to resign his office if and when he formally enters the race for U.S. Senate. "I will be the lieutenant governor until January 2007, when Bob Ehrlich is inaugurated for his second term," Steele said in a recent radio interview. To be sure, there is no legal or logical reason why Steele should step down before 2007. State and federal laws do not prohibit holding one office while seeking another. Not only would he forgo a good-paying job if he resigned, he also would give up his staff and the ability to travel the state making appearances that increase his visibility.

WOULD-BE opponents of Kathleen Kennedy Townsend are understandably envious of the advantages she holds as she seeks to ascend from lieutenant governor to governor. There's the undeniable power of her maiden name - as close to political royalty as it gets in the United States. There's the national fund-raising network and the influence of family members such as her uncle, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. And then there are the perks of incumbency. Because she is lieutenant governor, Townsend's name appears on billboards, brochures and newspaper advertisements throughout the state, almost all of it paid for with taxpayer money.