Running For Governor

Among the likely Democratic candidates for Maryland governor in 2014 - Howard County executive Ken Ulman, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Attorney General Doug Gansler - Ulman comes closest to being the "Baltimore-area candidate. " But a genuine Baltimore-area candidate - someone who could pull votes from Baltimore County and the city, and enough in other key sectors of the state - would be a serious contender for the big-daddy chair in Annapolis. And who might that be? Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, the six-term congressman and former Baltimore County executive, "is considering it," says his spokeswoman, Jaime Lennon.

Saying his work in Baltimore is incomplete, Mayor Martin O'Malley announced yesterday that he will not be a candidate for governor this year - clearing the way for Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend to run unopposed for the Democratic nomination. "There is no tougher fight, and no more noble cause, than the turnaround of a great American city," O'Malley said, adding that the decision to forgo the campaign was the most difficult of his political life. "The risk of losing this particular race was really not something that intimidated me," he said.

THESE ARE TIMES that try Dutch's soul. It has been a discomfiting 12 months for Baltimore County Executive C. A. Dutch Ruppersberger. Once, he looked like a strong contender for governor; now it would take a remarkable turnaround to achieve that goal. Thanks to the number 509. That's the state Senate bill he pushed through the legislature last year. It proved a dreadful mistake. The county executive's intentions were on target, but his implementation was shockingly inept. The bill's aim: revive blighted parts of Baltimore County, particularly Middle River.

Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot, who had considered running for governor in 2014, told supporters Tuesday he will bow out of that contest to seek another term as comptroller instead. Franchot, a Democrat, has frequently been at odds with Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration. His decision not to run comes amid speculation that Democrats will have a crowded and potentially messy gubernatorial primary in 2014. "This is a decision that I have made after a great deal of personal reflection," Franchot, 65, said in a message posted on his website Tuesday.

George W. Owings III, a former state delegate and Calvert County Democrat, appears to be little more than a week away from announcing his run for governor. He said Monday that he'll "make it official" at a morning news conference Jan. 6 on the courthouse steps in Prince Frederick. The former majority whip, who served as secretary of veterans affairs under Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., has been a sharp critic of Gov. Martin O'Malley's fiscal policies. He disagreed with O'Malley's decision to raise the sales tax during a 2007 special session and took issue with the governor's personal lobbying to repeal the death penalty this year.

Blaine Young, the Republican president of the Frederick County Board of Commissioners, has taken a step toward a possible run for governor in 2014 by launching a fund-raising committee. Young, 40, was elected in 2010 as part of a conservative Republican sweep of the five board seats in the Western Maryland county. He had been appointed to the board earlier that year. The former Democrat, who switched parties in 2002, said he has registered a committee, Blaine Young for Maryland, with the state elections board.

Candidates preparing for the races of 1994 will spend th next few months raising money, worrying about image and pondering the quirks of public life.Take the Democratic candidates for governor:Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke wonders how to cope with the results of his politically daring call in 1988 for a debate on decriminalization of drug abuse in America. Then and now, Mr. Schmoke was asking for agreement that what we are doing now doesn't work.Though many would agree with his assessment, many disagree with his solution even as a debating point.