Courtney Watson won her Howard County Council seat with a 988-vote margin four years ago as Democrats were rising in popularity nationally. Now, with that public favor seemingly waning and a prominent Republican like Robert L. Flanagan opposing her, can she prevail again in a district that has elected officials from both major parties?
Watson, a former school board member who is also vice president of a commercial insurance firm, said she's confident running on her record. Watson, whose District 1 covers Ellicott City and Elkridge, said she's proved herself an independent Democrat willing to buck County Executive Ken Ulman and the council's other three Democrats.
"This time I have a record. I think I have a very strong record," said Watson, who said she's determined to keep Howard County's school system "on top." She also pointed out that in 2006, she beat Republican Tony Salazar in a district won by Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. by 1,812 votes over Democrat Martin O'Malley. District 1 voters tend to support individuals, she said, not political parties.
"District 1 doesn't really conform to trends," she said. The district has 16,441 registered Democrats, 12,424 registered Republicans and 7,739 other voters.
Flanagan, an attorney in private practice and four-term state delegate who served as Maryland's transportation secretary under Ehrlich, seems equally confident as he and other former Ehrlich Cabinet officials seek to make inroads in what is now a Democrat-dominated county. Flanagan's former deputy, Trent Kittleman, is running against Ulman for county executive, and Dennis R. Schrader, Ehrlich's former homeland security director who later took a job in the Bush administration, is trying to defeat Democrat Jen Terrasa and win his old County Council seat back in the southeastern county's District 3.
Ulman and four of five council members are Democrats, along with six of the county's eight delegates and two of its three state senators. The burden for Flanagan, as for anyone challenging an incumbent, though, is to convince voters that a change is needed.
"I'm working hard. I'm working very hard," Flanagan said. "We're dealing with a monopoly on the local, state and federal levels, and I'm trying to break up that monopoly and put balance back in our local government." Ehrlich, seeking to become governor again this year, formally endorsed Flanagan last week.
Flanagan, who began campaigning in October, is trying to paint Watson as a friend to developers and an Ulman ally who makes a show of independence when her vote won't change the outcome. "I'll be an honest broker, very focused on a fair and open process," Flanagan said about how he would behave as a zoning board member. In Howard, council members also serve as the zoning board and hear some liquor board cases, too. But county finances are at the core of his concern, he said.
"She voted for every [county] budget," he said. "She votes with Ken Ulman and the Democrats 98 percent of the time." His much lower campaign kitty graphically shows his independence, he said. Flanagan's Aug. 17 report showed $16,531 raised since January and a balance of $6,560 on hand. Watson reported raising $27,302 since January but had $71,510 on hand.
She said her long background as a county Chamber of Commerce member and ties through her insurance job to dozens of small businesses, especially restaurants that her firm insures, help attract donations.
"I've been a member of the business community in Howard County for 20 years. They know me." Developers certainly make campaign contributions to ensure access to elected officials, she said, but Watson said she's used those contacts to push developers to work with communities to solve problems instead of fighting residents. Some developers, like the Mangione-family-owned Turf Valley resort, have given to both contenders for the seat that covers their property.
Flanagan, like other Republicans, also contends that county government is growing too fast and that burgeoning debts for retiree health benefits and pensions are being neglected by Democratic incumbents.
"The fact is people are worried about debt and unfunded liabilities," he said. He compares Democrats' posture toward voters on these issues with the story of "The Wizard of Oz." "Don't pay any attention to that man behind the curtain," he said. As he waved at motorists from behind a huge red campaign sign on Old Annapolis Road one cloudy morning, Flanagan said he's running mainly because of his concern about government spending.
"I'm very concerned about the county," he said. "I think we have a long-range [spending] trend that's going to undermine the life of this county if it continues." He's predicted that if re-elected, Democrats intend to raise taxes next year, while Ulman and Watson have both denied that.
Both candidates agree that Howard is a first-rate place to live, but Flanagan, like other Republicans, said only spending cuts can guarantee continuation of that status, while Watson, who said she's intent on finding efficiencies, wants to ensure a well-funded school system as the county's centerpiece and key to future prosperity.
Watson said the county has $21 million saved toward retiree health benefits and that New York bond rating houses felt that is sufficient for now, considering the economic downturn. She, along with Republican Councilman Greg Fox, has been a frequent critic of spending on new programs during the recession.
Watson rejected Flanagan's conentions, pointing to her vote in May to cut funds for Ulman's Healthy Howard health access plan for the uninsured and to deny rezoning in Elkridge for a mixed-use development on 122 acres near the Dorsey MARC train station. Her support for rezoning for Doughoregan Manor, she said, put 500 acres of farmland in permanent preservation, while the downtown Columbia rezoning will make sure future growth goes where it belongs — in already developed Columbia Town Center.
"Budget votes are the biggest area of contention I've had with other Democrats," she said.
"He doesn't know me very well," Watson said, calling Flanagan's accusations of ties to developers and close support for Ulman "pure self-serving speculation on his part." She said Ulman was very upset with her vote to cut funds from Healthy Howard, though she and Fox lost that dispute on a 3-2 council vote.
"I'm clearly independent of Ken, but I work with him," she said, pointing to her opposition to the county's purchase of the Belmont Conference Center in Elkridge for Howard Community College.
"I did it because it was the right thing to do," Watson said.
On the political front, Watson is clearly cognizant of Ehrlich's attraction for some voters she is hoping to woo. Asked if she endorses Gov. Martin O'Malley's re-election, she dodged a direct answer.
"I think O'Malley has had a difficult situation after the last four years. He's done the best he can. I'm very focused on the local level," she said.
Flanagan has noted that Watson's big campaign signs are sometimes close to Ehrlich's, though Watson said that's the property owner's call, not hers. Still, given the district's history of electing Republican Christopher B. Merdon for two terms before her win in 2006, Flanagan thinks he's got a good chance to win.
"I think this is going to be a very close election up and down the ballot," Flanagan said.
larry.carson@baltsun.com