State Central Committee

The councilmanic race in Baltimore's 2nd District features two incumbents fighting to keep their Eastside Democratic Organization's grasp on the seats and fending off jabs about underrepresentation of the district.With Councilman Robert L. Douglass retiring, incumbents Paula Johnson Branch and Bernard C. "Jack" Young have tapped Alphonso Keith Barney, a rising figure in east-side politics, to share their ticket. Branch, 50, is seeking her third term. Young, 45, was appointed to council in 1996 after Anthony J. Ambridge stepped down.

Two days after he was expelled from the Maryland Senate over findings that he used his public office for private gain, Larry Young was warmly embraced yesterday at New Shiloh Baptist Church -- where he is a deacon -- in a rousing service that brought dozens of worshipers to the altar in a special prayer for the fallen politician."

A community activist was selected to fill the seat of state Del. Gerald J. Curran, who resigned last month after ethical questions arose about his business dealings.In a 4-1 vote, Michael Dobson, 47, was chosen to replace Curran, who resigned Feb. 27, three days before he was to appear before a legislative ethics panel to defend his actions.Dobson, a bankruptcy claims analyst, said that he was gratified by the decision of the five-member 43rd Legislative District Democratic State Central Committee and that he intends to run for the seat in this year's state elections.

Saying the law gave him no other option, Gov. Parris N. Glendening rejected yesterday Larry Young's effort to reclaim the state Senate seat from which he was expelled last month for ethics transgressions.The day after Baltimore Democratic officials defiantly nominated Young to return to the Senate, Glendening instructed them to choose another successor by Sunday's legal deadline."Let me make this very clear: Under the law and under the constitution, I cannot make this appointment," Glendening said at a State House news conference at which he never mentioned his one-time ally by name.

MESSAGE TO LARRY YOUNG: You can't go home again. At least, you can't return to reclaim your former seat in the Maryland Senate. You were expelled by your colleagues last month and barred from the Senate for the duration of this term, which ends in January. The attorney general says you don't qualify as a replacement candidate. The governor concurs.Yet Mr. Young persists in using pressure tactics to try to have his way. He got the state central committee, which he controls, to submit his name to the governor for the Senate vacancy in his West Baltimore district.

Political insiders at City Hall are betting that community activist Rita R. Church is the front-runner to replace Joan Carter Conway as a 3rd District council member.Church, from the Coldstream-Homestead-Montebello area, is relatively unknown outside political circles.But she is a longtime activist and board member of the 43rd District's Democratic State Central Committee.Church is one of the five committee members who voted unanimously to replace state Sen. John A. Pica Jr., who retired last week, with Conway, a first-term councilwoman.

U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas handily won a presidential straw poll yesterday in the first such survey of Republican activists from across Maryland this primary season.Mr. Gramm won the informal poll of 149 Republican State Central Committee members with 51 percent of the vote, beating Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas by almost a 2-1 ratio. Mr. Dole remains the GOP front-runner in polls nationally and statewide.Mr. Dole placed second with 26 percent, while former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, who is struggling to make the Republican primary a three-man race, took 12 percent.

Texas Sen. Phil Gramm handily won a presidential straw poll yesterday in the first such survey of Republican activists from across Maryland this primary season.Mr. Gramm won the informal poll of 149 Republican State Central Committee members with 51 percent of the vote, almost a 2-1 margin over Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole of Kansas, who remains the GOP front-runner in polls nationally and statewide.Mr. Dole placed second with 26 percent, while former Tennessee Gov. Lamar Alexander, who is struggling to make the Republican primary a three-man race, took 12 percent.

Republican F. Vernon Boozer of Towson may yet have to fight for another term in the state Senate seat he has held since 1981.John C. Head, the on-again off-again, non-campaigning Democratic state Senate candidate in the 9th District, has dropped out of the race.This will give the State Central Committee an opportunity to appoint a candidate who will take on Senator Boozer in the Nov. 8 general election.Mr. Head filed as the Democratic nominee at the deadline in July. The next day he said he would withdraw for medical reasons.

Joseph Bartenfelder, who is running for the Democratic nomination for the 6th District Baltimore County Council seat, was omitted inadvertently from the candidate list yesterday in The Sun and some editions of The Evening Sun.The Sun regrets the error.New legislative seats and overlapping districts have produced a bumper crop of candidates for local and state offices on the Sept. 13 primary ballot in Baltimore County.The county election board yesterday recorded 366 candidates for open offices ranging from U.S. senator to party central committee member.

The Maryland Republican Party and state elections officials reached an agreement Tuesday that allows the financially beleaguered party to incrementally repay $75,000 to Michael S. Steele's campaign account so that it can still meet monthly expenses. The State Board of Elections had determined that Steele's account made an improper contribution to the Republican State Central Committee by covering legal fees it incurred during a redistricting fight several years ago. Steele, a former lieutenant governor and now the national GOP chairman, was the state committee's chairman back then.

State elections officials have told the financially strapped Maryland Republican Party that it must repay $77,500 that Michael S. Steele, now the national GOP chairman, transferred to it in an apparent violation of campaign finance laws. The state party faces a deadline in two weeks to resolve several alleged violations. If it remains unsettled, the matter ultimately could be referred to state prosecutors for possible charges. The Maryland State Board of Elections found that money transferred from Steele's state campaign account, used to pay debts of the Republican State Central Committee, exceeded the legal limit, according to letters obtained by The Baltimore Sun. The violations turned up during a routine audit of political committees.

Group to repair homes in Kentucky A volunteer team of 90 youths, college students and adults from Severna Park United Methodist Church will spend next week repairing homes in Kentucky with the Appalachia Service Project. The group will leave at 8 a.m. Saturday and will arrive in Letcher and Harlan counties Sunday and return July 7. The Appalachia Service Project is a nonprofit home-repair project with and for the poor of Central Appalachia. It is offered through the United Methodist Church but is open to all denominations.

Gov. Martin O'Malley has picked a former Baltimore aide and prominent adviser to several African-American organizations to become the next chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party. "I'm a behind-the-scenes kind of guy," said Michael E. Cryor, 60, of Baltimore, who was co-chairman of O'Malley's "Believe" campaign when he was mayor. "This is a little bit of a change for me. I'm looking forward to the challenge." African-American leaders have expressed concern about the state party's commitment to blacks in recent elections.

A decimated Carroll County Republican Central Committee has reinstated an ousted member, appointed another and is working to replace four others who resigned from the panel rather than become embroiled in a court case fighting the ouster. "We are absolutely getting it together, and we are all working on the presidential campaign," said James Reter, who is now vice chairman of the traditionally nine-member committee elected by county Republicans every four years. For a brief interval last month, the committee was down to four members, and one of those was Joseph F. Burns Jr., who had been ousted in a closed session July 6. With advice and support of state party officials, the local committee voted to oust Burns for what former Chairwoman Michelle Jefferson called "housekeeping" issues.

A decimated Carroll County Republican Central Committee has reinstated an ousted member, appointed another and is working to replace four others who resigned from the panel rather than become embroiled in a court case fighting the ouster. "We are absolutely getting it together, and we are all working on the presidential campaign," said James Reter, who is now vice chairman of the traditionally nine-member committee elected by county Republicans every four years. For a brief interval last month, the committee was down to four members, and one of those was Joseph F. Burns Jr., who had been ousted in a closed session July 6. With advice and support of state party officials, the local committee voted to oust Burns for what former Chairwoman Michelle Jefferson called "housekeeping" issues.

The Carroll County Republican Central Committee, already marred by infighting caused by the ouster of one member, was effectively cut in half yesterday with the resignation of its chairwoman and three other members. Chairwoman Michelle Jefferson cleared out her office at committee headquarters in Westminster late Wednesday, shortly after a court hearing during which the committee was unable to resolve its differences with Joseph F. Burns Jr. After the central committee removed him in July, Burns filed a lawsuit against the panel.

The Carroll County Republican Central Committee, already marred by infighting caused by the ouster of one member, was effectively cut in half yesterday with the resignation of its chairwoman and three members. Chairwoman Michelle Jefferson cleared out her office at committee headquarters in Westminster late Wednesday, shortly after a court hearing during which the committee was unable to resolve its differences with Joseph F. Burns Jr. After the central committee removed him in July, Burns filed a lawsuit against the panel.

Some Baltimore political heavyweights -- including Mayor Martin O'Malley and NAACP President Kweisi Mfume -- are lobbying the city's Democratic leaders to pick the son of the late Del. Howard P. Rawlings as his father's successor. The 40th District State Central Committee, a five-member body charged with recommending a replacement for Rawlings to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., is scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. today at Baltimore City Community College to interview applicants and make its selection.

Howard County Republicans bared their internal divisions and their strong opinions last night as the county's state central committee interviewed five of the six candidates vying to replace Robert L. Flanagan in the Maryland House of Delegates but made no final choice. Flanagan, who has represented Ellicott City and the western county since 1987, was unanimously recommended for confirmation as Maryland's transportation secretary by a state Senate committee late yesterday. A final Senate vote on his confirmation is expected Friday.