Republican Primary

It's this year's ''stealth election.'' No one seems to know much about it. And yet, come Sept. 13, Maryland's 670,000 Republicans will have to choose a candidate -- for the United State Senate, no less.You would think such an office would draw the cream of state Republicans. There is no higher federal office to run for in Maryland. And yet, the three GOP candidates who did file are virtual unknowns in this state. Their political experience in this state is minimal.Ruthann Aron has never run for office before.

Three months ago, everyone assumed Republican Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett would retire. Now, with just days to go before Tuesday's primary, the 85-year-old former scientist is poised to capture the GOP nomination in Maryland's 6th District for the 11th time. The race for the seat, which covers Western Maryland and parts of Montgomery and Frederick counties, is among the most closely watched in the country this year. The Buckeystown Republican is running against seven other GOP candidates, including two state lawmakers — Sen. David R. Brinkley and Del. Kathy Afzali — and several businessmen.

GOVERNOR Kathleen Kennedy Townsend (D); Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) COMPTROLLER William Donald Schaefer (D); Gene Zarwell (R) ATTORNEY GENERAL Jeffrey N. Pritzker (R); no Democratic primary BALTIMORE STATE'S ATTORNEY Anton J.S. Keating (D); no Republican primary COUNTY GOVERNMENT Anne Arundel County County executive: Phillip D. Bissett (R); no Democratic primary Council District 2: Daniel E. Klosterman Jr. (D); no Republican primary Council District 3: Ron Dillon Jr. (R); no Democratic primary Council District 4: Terry Wilson (D)

Barely three weeks from now, on Jan. 3, Republicans will start the quest for their 2012 presidential nominee in Iowa's precinct caucuses. Already the winnowing process among the candidates has begun, with the "suspension" of Herman Cain's ill-fated campaign. The process will continue for the survivors after Iowa, unless one of them unexpectedly scores an early knockout, as the well-heeled Mitt Romney had first hoped. But with the pendulum seemingly swinging Newt Gingrich's way lately, Mr. Romney will now be relying on his better-financed and better-organized campaign to check the former House speaker's unexpected momentum.

Baltimore elections officials are due to begin counting absentee ballots this morning, and the results may decide the winner of the extremely close Republican primary for mayor.Unofficial results from Thursday's primary put the three leading Republican candidates -- Bruce K. Price, Samuel A. Culotta and Joseph A. Scalia -- within 50 votes of one another.Barbara E. Jackson, the city administrator of elections, said that the elections board has received 522 absentee ballots for the Republican primary.

The name of Shelton Skolnick, a candidate in the 8th District Democratic primary, was misspelled in a list of candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives published Tuesday in The Sun.The Sun regrets the error.U.S. SenateDemocratic PrimaryDon Allensworth, HagerstownScott David Britt, Beltsville*Barbara A. Mikulski, BaltimoreB. Emerson Sweatt, Bryans RoadThomas M. Wheatly, Silver SpringJames Leonard White, BaltimoreRepublican PrimaryJames Henry Berry, BethesdaJohn J. Bishop Jr., BaltimoreJoseph I. Cassilly, ChurchvilleJoyce Friend-Nalepka, Silver SpringHerman J. Hannan, PhoenixStuart Hopkins, PrestonAlan L. Keyes, DarnestownMartha Scanlan Klima, LuthervilleWilliam H. Krehnbrink, Perry HallScott L. Meredith, BarclayRoss Z. Pierpont, BaltimoreEdward Robert Shannon, Silver SpringS.

In the most hotly contested judicial race in Baltimore County in 10 years, the county's five sitting judges held onto their jobs as voters chose them over four lawyers challenging for their seats on the Circuit Court bench.Dundalk Del. Louis L. DePazzo, D-7th, mounted the strongest challenge, falling behind Judge Edward A. DeWaters Jr. by 1,024 votes in the Republican primary and by 6,805 votes in the Democratic contest.At one point during last night's vote tabulation, Mr. DePazzo actually led Judge DeWaters in the Republican primary by about 100 votes.

Republican county executive candidate Dennis R. Schrader received his first public endorsement from an elected official yesterday, as GOP Del. John S. Morgan declared his support.Morgan, who represents a district that stretches from Laurel in Prince George's County to his home in North Laurel in southeastern Howard County, described Schrader as a friend who shares his opposition to uncontrolled residential growth.He and Schrader, a first-term County Council member who also represents North Laurel, were opposed to this year's Rouse Co. rezoning that sped up plans for a Columbia-style village in North Laurel.

BALTIMORE COUNTY'S next council and new executive will confront issues that have hung over the state's second-largest jurisdiction for some time: managing development in a county without much open space left, keeping urban problems from destroying aging suburban communities, and ensuring that schools maintain high standards for student achievement. Fortunately, several candidates would bring the experience, new ideas and energy needed to address these potential problems. County executive: Experience is what James T. Smith Jr., a former chairman of the County Council and circuit court judge, has over Joseph Walters Jr. in the Democratic primary.

ANNE ARUNDEL'S tax cap means the county's budget will be tight in the coming years. The county's schools -- many of which are old and falling down -- are getting more money for renovation, but what about improving academics? And from Glen Burnie to Shadyside, there's a struggle between developers and preservationists. The favored county government hopefuls in the Sept. 10 primary all offer creative ideas about those issues. County Executive: Current executive Janet Owens faces no primary opposition, but two Republicans want to challenge her in the fall.

This week, CNN released polls of the first four states to hold Republican primaries. Iowa, New Hampshire, Florida and South Carolina all currently show former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney as the front-runner. The media have taken those results and drawn the conclusion that Mr. Romney already has wrapped up the race. In a typical year, they might be right. The Republican primaries are winner-take-all contests, and winning the first four states would usually ensure enough of a lead that the winner could cruise to the nomination.

Harford County voters appeared to return David R. Craig to the county executive's office after participating in what could be the lowest-turnout primary in decades. In early unofficial results, Craig appeared to win a second term as county executive after beating back a challenge from former County Council President Robert S. Wagner in the Republican primary. Republican Council President Billy Boniface ran unopposed for re-election, as did longtime Republican Councilman Richard Slutzky.

Republican congressional candidate Andy Harris could be right at home in Washington next year. If the veteran lawmaker from suburban Baltimore is able to ride a predicted Republican wave into the House, he would join fellow social and economic conservatives in a class of newcomers whose anticipated rise to power has already been likened to the so-called Gingrich Revolution of the mid-1990s. In Maryland, as elsewhere, the public is "in a cynical mood. It is an angry mood," said Harris.

As a bitter Republican primary race for the Maryland's 1st Congressional District gets nastier by the day, Democrats - normally sidelined in the general election by the strong crossover appeal of incumbent Wayne T. Gilchrest - are eager for a general election contest that could be competitive for the first time in years. National political observers have not counted the district among those that could swing to Democrats this year, mostly because of Gilchrest's landslide victories in recent elections.

The Republican Party's desire to harness the growing conservative tide in Anne Arundel County is playing out in legislative races there. District 30: Democratic voters in this Annapolis-centered district should re-elect incumbent Dels. Michael E. Busch and Virginia P. Clagett. Both are well-regarded veterans of county politics. Mr. Busch has proved to be a popular and effective House speaker, a post that gives his district considerable clout. Barbara Samorajczyk, an attorney and two-term County Council member, is the best choice to join them.

Harford County, grappling with development pressures and school crowding issues, will see its roads, parks and other services further strained by the influx of new federal workers in the coming years. Its elected officials will need to be both disciplined and creative in providing for newcomers and protecting the quality of life enjoyed by their constituents. County executive: Republican David R. Craig, appointed county executive last year to fill out the term of James M. Harkins, has had hands-on experience where it counts.

Today, The Sun continues its Sept. 10 primary endorsements with a look at races in state legislative districts 6, 7 and 8. THE RUN-UP to this year's elections made Baltimore County -- and especially Dundalk -- the epicenter of Maryland politics. Sliced and diced by Democratic politicians, Dundalk stood as the most egregious example of their gerrymandering. Dundalk's favorite son, Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr., went to court, won and changed the political map for the entire state. Districts 6, 7 and 8 on the east side of Baltimore County were thoroughly reconfigured by the Court of Appeals.

Is former Gov. William Donald Schaefer's flirtation with a run for mayor of Baltimore fizzling out?Mr. Schaefer, who for months has been publicly coy about launching a mayoral campaign, last night failed to meet the deadline for switching his party affiliation.His decision to remain a Democrat makes it increasingly remote that he will seek to reclaim the City Hall office that he held for 15 years.The most likely scenario had Mr. Schaefer switching parties, breezing through the Republican primary, and challenging the winner of a hard-fought Democratic primary between Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and Council President Mary Pat Clarke in November's general election.

The Republican primary next month should prove lively for every contested race in Carroll County, and the races for the county's seven court positions will be no exception. Only two Democrats are running for court spots - one for clerk of the court and one for register of wills. In contrast, there are 11 Republicans vying for their party's nominations for courthouse jobs, plus three nonpartisan candidates for judgeships. This election marks only the second challenge to any sitting judge in Carroll County in more than 100 years, according to Judge J. Barry Hughes.

Billing herself as "the real Republican," Laura Townsend unseated incumbent Annapolis Alderman Michael W. Fox in otherwise lackluster primary elections yesterday in Maryland's capital city. There was no contest at the top of the party tickets, with incumbent Mayor Ellen O. Moyer the lone Democrat and Alderman George O. Kelley Sr. the lone Republican seeking her job. But they will vie in a three-way race with Independent Gilbert T. Renaut in the Nov. 8 general election. Four of the city's eight wards had uncontested elections for city council.