Race For Mayor

Voters in Sykesville have not been turning out for their local elections in great number. Of the town's approximately 1,100 registered voters, fewer than 200 cast ballots in the last election. Next Tuesday, a contested race for mayor may help reverse this trend.After three terms as mayor, Lloyd R. Helt Jr. is stepping down. He steadily managed the town in boom times -- its population has grown by 50 percent since 1980, to 2,700 -- while helping to protect Sykesville's small-town feel. Mr. Helt, who took office in 1981, also is leaving the town in sound financial shape.

By pulling the lever for Mary Pat Clarke, Baltimore Democrats can nominate a mayoral candidate who offers an innovative approach to reverse the city's steady decline.For The Sun, abandoning Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and endorsing Mrs. Clarke was a difficult decision. He is studied, where she is impulsive; he has a national reputation while she is strictly local; zTC he has connections in Washington and Annapolis that have helped produce such major projects as Sandtown-Winchester and the $100 million empowerment zone.

Mayor Sheila Dixon's humility in the face of victory may seem curious since she overwhelmingly defeated her closest opponent. But when you look at the numbers, the mayor won Tuesday's primary with the votes of less than a fifth of registered Democrats. Turnout was low, and some say not unusually so, but it shouldn't be forgotten in the post-primary euphoria of Ms. Dixon's win. She has her work cut out for her, and energizing the electorate should be high on her list. According to city election board estimates, nearly 31 percent of Baltimore's registered Democrats cast ballots, lower than the figures from 2003 and from 1999, when 49 percent turned out for a contentious three-way primary race for mayor.

SOMEBODY gets it. On May 27, House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. gets an honorary doctorate - in humane letters - from Frostburg State University. This laurel comes as Mr. Taylor encounters homefront controversies on the education and gun fronts. Without the degree and the overwhelming victory of his political ally in this week's race for mayor of Cumberland, one might be inclined to say that no good deed goes unpunished. A political lifetime of deeds in Mr. Taylor's case. Mr. Taylor's tenure in Annapolis has meant hundreds of new jobs for a desperately poor region.

Despite having less campaign money, Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley spent $1 million more on television advertising in the final days of the gubernatorial election than Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., detailed finance reports released yesterday by the Maryland State Board of Elections show. Buoyed by a last-minute, $500,000 loan from retired Washington attorney John P. Coale, O'Malley spent $2.7 million producing television advertisements and buying airtime - mainly through Washington-based firm Media Strategies & Research - between Oct. 23 and Nov. 21, the report shows.

A little more than three weeks remain until the May 7 city election in Havre de Grace and though the campaign has been relatively quiet to date, things can be expected to heat up as Election Day draws near. This year's election features a race for mayor and for three city council seats. Mayor Wayne Dougherty is seeking a fourth term and is challenged by former city councilman Jim Miller. In the council races, incumbents John Correri and Randy Craig are seeking re-election. Challengers include former councilman Fred Cullum and two first-time candidates, Thomas Barnes and Robert Greene.

Few expected drama to be a part of municipal elections in a small Harford County town where only about 1,800 people cast ballots at a single polling place. But the race for mayor in Havre de Grace remains undecided following Tuesday's election, as the top two vote-getters were separated by 38 votes with 60 absentee and eight provisional ballots yet to be counted. And the final tally that decides whether Wayne Dougherty or Gary Wasielewski will be the new mayor could stretch into next week, city officials said.

Week Six of former Gov. William Donald Schaefer's exciting run for state comptroller brings these insights in an Aug. 13 Los Angeles Times story on "Maryland's most famous crab."Baltimore "oddballs are a fading breed ... but Schaefer's return comes as evidence that the town and its cockeyed political culture have not gone blandly normal yet.": Sure, he's a little eccentric, but he's not just famous for being a fool. ... I wish he was running for president. He'd have my vote." -- John WatersAnd now, this week in Schaefer history, Aug. 16-22, 1986:In his first race for governor, Mayor Schaefer refuses to again debate his primary opponent, Attorney General Stephen H. Sachs, so Sachs holds a City Hall press conference to decry the conditions at city schools under Schaefer.

With only two days to go until Thursday's primary election in Baltimore City, reality is beginning to sink in. Barring unforeseen upsets, City Council incumbents are likely to be re-elected in the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Districts. In contrast, tight contests have developed over Democratic nominations in the First, Second and Third districts.Understandably, the mayoral race has captured most of the attention. It has been an odd spectacle. Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke's decision to wage a low-profile campaign has made it difficult for the two other major Democrats, Clarence H. "Du" Burns and William Swisher, to raise issues or create enthusiasm.

City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. unveiled yesterday the first part of his plan to improve the Baltimore school system, proposing to pay teachers who work in the toughest schools up to 15 percent more and demanding efficiency audits as he promised that education would be the issue to differentiate him from his main competitor in the mayoral race. Appearing at Thurgood Marshall High School in Northeast Baltimore, Mitchell reiterated that the cornerstone of his education plan is to dissolve the current city-state partnership and return control of the school system to the mayor.