Race For County

Because Anne Arundel County's best-known Democrats have been reluctant to commit to a race for county executive, the first declared Democratic candidate for the post is a political newcomer.Cpl. Larry Walker, a county police officer, said yesterday he will file to run for county executive tomorrow. A 24-year veteran of the force, Corporal Walker lately has been involved in community relations and drug education.If elected, Corporal Walker said he would concentrate on paring bureaucracy and improving county services.

Baltimore County Councilman Joseph Bartenfelder is poised for a boost in his race against fellow Councilman Kevin Kamenetz for the Democratic county executive nomination, as several labor unions prepare to throw him their support in coming days, union officials said. More labor support could help Bartenfelder stretch his resources in a closely contested primary election. He trails Kamenetz in fundraising, and the two have essentially split the labor endorsements announced to date.

An aide to former County Executive O. James Lighthizer has joined the hunt for the county's top elective post, setting the table for a political primary that one Democratic official predicted will be a "blood bath."Robert Agee, known as a trouble shooter in the Lighthizer administration, said yesterday that he intends to run for the Democratic nomination for county executive.Mr. Agee, 45, of Crofton said he has appointed a finance rTC committee and expects to hold a $100-a-ticket fund-raiser on June 21.He could face state Del. Theodore J. Sophocleus, who announced his intentions last week, in the September primary.

How the fallout of the 2006 election affected local political leaders: WINNERS Billy Boniface: A late entry to the race for County Council president, Boniface arguably came away from this year's election as one of the most popular politicians in Harford. The 42-year-old horse breeder, who has no political experience, toppled a 16-year incumbent in a three-way primary race by garnering a majority of the vote, then cruised to 30-percentage point victory in the general election. L. Jesse Bane: Bane turned what some thought was a marquee race into an easy win. Never a partisan figure, the Democrat didn't play politics in his bid to lead the county's largest police force and refused to talk anything other than issues, both publicly and privately.

Coach: Helen Derwin, seventh yearAssistant Coach: John ZiomekLast year's record: 10-5 overall, 7-5 in the Central Maryland Conference, 3-3 in the countyTop returnees: Seniors, Meredith McCullin, Kelly Foreman, Patti Bouver, Laura Hennessey.Top newcomers: Juniors, Emily Hall, Laura Veise, Chrissy Primavera, Kari Myers; sophomore, Calin Lawlor.Coach's comments: "I think we look pretty goodthis year. The girls know where they've got to be and what they've got to do."The Carroll County Sun's outlook: Liberty is coming offa successful season looking to improve and make a lot of noise in the county and CMC. The have the talent to do it, starting with four returning seniors.

Howard County Councilman Charles C. Feaga, a Republican candidate for county executive, raised more than $5,000 at a weekend fund-raiser that featured a visit by his potential Democratic opponent, James N. Robey.Robey, the recently retired Howard police chief, received a largely warm welcome from the estimated 350 guests at the event. But his attendance surprised some Republicans."To have your opponent come to a fund-raiser and receive a warm round of applause is bizarre," said Carol Arscott, a former Howard GOP chairwoman and a consultant to Dennis R. Schrader, Feaga's rival for the Republican county executive nomination.

Betty L. Smith, a self-employed marketing consultant and picture framer who quit the Republican Party to protest its gun raffle, became the third Democratic candidate to enter the race for county commissioner yesterday. The 53-year-old Uniontown resident might find the Sept. 10 primary ballot less-crowded than when she ran four years ago as a Republican. She finished eighth of 14 candidates in 1998. Smith resigned as vice chairwoman of the Republican Central Committee last summer in protest of the party's gun raffle fund-raiser, an event she called "insensitive and irresponsible."

For much of this half-century, the tale of political power In heavily Democratic Baltimore County has been an east-side story. This has been especially true of campaigns for the county executive s office.Various factors -- Including demographic shifts and, possibly, the unusual absence of a home-grown candidate from the east -- could dictate a different ending to this summer s Democratic primary race for county executive. But the consistent power of the large eastern voting bloc is not something candidates can afford to take lightly, despite the fact that the old east-side Democratic political machine has been dead and buried for at least 20 years.

Former County Councilman William H. Brill dropped out of the race for county executive Friday, saying his commitments as an expert witness on crime and security did not leave him with the time or energy he needed for the campaign.The departure of Mr. Brill, who registered at the last possible moment for the Sept. 13 primary, reduces the field of Democratic candidates to four.Mr. Brill, who was on the County Council from 1978 to 1982, owns a security planning and crime analysis business in Annapolis and travels to courtrooms across the county to testify in criminal trials.

If politics is a horse race, then pollster Patrick E. Gonzales risks becoming the 300-pound jockey of Anne Arundel County.After leaving a job two years ago with Mason-Dixon Opinion Research to start his own consulting business, PEG Research, he has ridden two Democratic campaigns into the dirt.Gonzales was first thrown from his mount last year after suiting up as the pollster for Annapolis Mayor Dennis M. Callahan's losing primary bid for re-election.And last week, he never approached the finish line as campaign manager for County Councilman Michael F. Gilligan, who pulled up lame in the primary race for county executive.

Anne Arundel Leopold wins race for county executive Republican Del. John R. Leopold declared victory in the race for county executive Friday after a count of absentee ballots gave him a margin of nearly 4,000 votes over Sheriff George F. Johnson IV, a Democrat. Several other races will hang in the balance until about 3,600 provisional ballots and several hundred more absentee ballots from overseas voters are counted, starting tomorrow. Republican Bryan Simonaire had pulled ahead of former Democratic Del. Walter Shandrowsky in the contest for state senator in District 31, in Pasadena and Glen Burnie.

Thirty years ago, George F. Johnson IV was working as a patrol officer for the Anne Arundel County Police Department when he decided it was time to move up. But he hardly studied a lick for the sergeant's test and failed. "I didn't put the time and effort into it, to be honest with you," the Pasadena resident said. Johnson learned a lesson about being prepared, one he remembers as the moderate Democrat tries to become Anne Arundel's next county executive. Shortly after winning a third term as county sheriff in 2002, Johnson began methodically building an expansive campaign.

Del. John R. Leopold, a moderate Republican who has represented the Pasadena area for two decades, filed to run for Anne Arundel County executive yesterday, declaring that his legislative accomplishments make him the most qualified to oversee the county at its "most critical juncture in history." Formally announcing his candidacy in Severn, Leopold said he possessed a combination of integrity, fiscal prudence and "bridge building" - all skills that he said the next executive will need as the county prepares for a high-tech job boom at Fort Meade.

Gregory V. Nourse, an assistant superintendent for the Anne Arundel County school system, said yesterday that he plans to run for county executive next year. Nourse, 56, joins state Del. John R. Leopold and former state Del. Phillip D. Bissett as Republicans expected to run for the seat now held by Democrat Janet S. Owens, who cannot run for a third term because of term limits. At least three Democrats are also considering bids. Nourse said he will file as a candidate with the state next week.

The race for sheriff of Baltimore County, a contest that normally does not attract much attention in political circles, has turned into a heated contest with five candidates charging that the office lacks effective leadership and is seriously understaffed. Two Democrats, R. Jay Fisher and Charles D. Cuddy, are trying to unseat Sheriff Anne K. Strasdauskas. Three Republicans, former sheriff Norman M. Pepersack Jr., Russell D. Badolato and Joseph P. Callendar, are also seeking the office.

Betty L. Smith, a self-employed marketing consultant and picture framer who quit the Republican Party to protest its gun raffle, became the third Democratic candidate to enter the race for county commissioner yesterday. The 53-year-old Uniontown resident might find the Sept. 10 primary ballot less-crowded than when she ran four years ago as a Republican. She finished eighth of 14 candidates in 1998. Smith resigned as vice chairwoman of the Republican Central Committee last summer in protest of the party's gun raffle fund-raiser, an event she called "insensitive and irresponsible."

Anne Arundel Leopold wins race for county executive Republican Del. John R. Leopold declared victory in the race for county executive Friday after a count of absentee ballots gave him a margin of nearly 4,000 votes over Sheriff George F. Johnson IV, a Democrat. Several other races will hang in the balance until about 3,600 provisional ballots and several hundred more absentee ballots from overseas voters are counted, starting tomorrow. Republican Bryan Simonaire had pulled ahead of former Democratic Del. Walter Shandrowsky in the contest for state senator in District 31, in Pasadena and Glen Burnie.

How the fallout of the 2006 election affected local political leaders: WINNERS Billy Boniface: A late entry to the race for County Council president, Boniface arguably came away from this year's election as one of the most popular politicians in Harford. The 42-year-old horse breeder, who has no political experience, toppled a 16-year incumbent in a three-way primary race by garnering a majority of the vote, then cruised to 30-percentage point victory in the general election. L. Jesse Bane: Bane turned what some thought was a marquee race into an easy win. Never a partisan figure, the Democrat didn't play politics in his bid to lead the county's largest police force and refused to talk anything other than issues, both publicly and privately.

Republican James M. Harkins defeated Democrat Arthur H. Helton last night in the race for Harford County executive, a campaign in which candidates argued over who could best manage development in the burgeoning suburban county.In an area where Democrats once outnumbered Republicans 2-to-1, Harkins becomes the first Republican executive. The 44-year-old deputy sheriff and former state delegate won with 52 percent of the vote, compared with Helton's 48 percent.Harkins and Helton, a 60-year-old businessman and former state senator, battled to succeed Democrat Eileen M. Rehrmann, who ran for the Democratic nomination for governor but dropped out of the race shortly before the primary.