Resisting the allure of a more winnable contest, Harford County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann resolved again yesterday to oust her party's incumbent governor, Parris N. Glendening -- a decision that promises a spirited Democratic gubernatorial primary.
The death of Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein on Friday presented unexpected opportunity which, Rehrmann said, a number of Democrats urged her to take.
But she said voters across the state are hungry for the reliability she promises.
"We have a governor who's more interested in his future than Maryland's future," she said. "We need a governor we can count on. If I didn't believe that, I would have gotten into the comptroller's race."
Rehrmann's decision almost certainly means Glendening will be forced to spend precious resources during the primary -- money he might have saved for the general election if she had not been in the race challenging his trustworthiness and attacking his record.
Her decision came on the same day another Democratic contender, Raymond F. Schoenke Jr. of Montgomery County, quit the race, calling Glendening's lead over the primary field virtually insuperable. He said only negative campaigning could have made him competitive.
Maryland Republicans also will have a contested primary as Howard County Executive Charles I. Ecker chose a Frederick businesswoman to run on his ticket for lieutenant governor. His choice is Barbara J. Windsor, 48, executive vice president of Hahn Transportation, her family's Frederick County-based trucking business. She has no political experience.
While Rehrmann was re-asserting the view that she is the only Democrat who can defeat Republican front-runner Ellen R. Sauerbrey, Schoenke urged Rehrmann to leave the race, in the name of party unity.
But the 53-year-old Rehrmann scorned Schoenke's lack of resolve. Rejecting his conclusion that Glendening is unbeatable, she recalled that Schoenke, too, had been highly critical of the governor.
"Here's a guy," she said, "who calls the governor a chameleon, but when he sees his own chances aren't good, says 'Let's come together.' I've never been that type of person."
Asked if she agreed that only negative campaigning would bring victory, she said: "Any time you're involved in an election, you're asking someone to fire someone else and hire you."
Glendening's spokesman, Peter S. Hamm, responded sharply to Rehrmann's comments.
"With all the maneuvering Eileen Rehrmann has been doing for the last three days, she could teach us all something about looking for her own future instead of Maryland's future," he said. "While this governor was working hard to carefully examine the various options at appointing a replacement for Mr. Goldstein, Eileen Rehrmann stays out there slinging mud.
"This governor," he said, "has looked out for Maryland's future for four years and will be looking out for Maryland's future long after Eileen Rehrmann's political obituary has been written."
With endorsements from Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke and Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry, Rehrmann's candidacy could well be more than a minor irritant to the incumbent. Their star quality is backed by Larry S. Gibson, an adviser to both men as well as an experienced campaign manager.
Rehrmann made clear yesterday she will not hesitate to remind voters of Glendening's record, citing the governor's claim that he didn't leave Prince George's in bad financial shape when he left the county executive's office there in 1994. "Give me a break," she said. "There was an audit done that confirmed that."
And she mentioned the enhanced pension benefits Glendening and some of his top staff were to receive when they left office in Prince George's. "They only gave it back after a lot of pressure," she said.
Rehrmann said her phone rang constantly over the weekend as Democratic friends urged her to run for Goldstein's seat. Her fiscal skills -- learned during eight years on the House Appropriations Committee and eight more as Harford County executive -- are a perfect fit for the comptroller's office, they said.
"I told them I viewed it as even more important to have a governor with those skills," she said.
Rehrmann never received a direct appeal from the Glendening campaign, but, she said, some of her Democratic friends suggested they could broker such a deal: "People would say, 'I would love to work on this with the governor.' I'd say I'm running for governor. I say what I mean and mean what I say."
By contrast, she said, Glendening proves consistently that he will always do the politically convenient thing -- noting the governor's appointment yesterday of former 8th District Rep. Michael D. Barnes, his re-election campaign chairman, as comptroller.
"It's the same thing over and over," she said.
Rehrmann said she believes her standing will improve once voters see precisely who's in the race. She said her camp's polling suggests she is the Democratic hope against Sauerbrey -- and, she said, she will have sufficient financial resources to get her message on television.
Glendening's standing, she said, is overstated. "Any support he has is soft," she said. "People aren't shouting, 'He's the governor for me!' "
In posting his $290 filing fee yesterday, Ecker said he, too, had rejected appeals from his party to enter the race for comptroller.
"Comptroller Goldstein's death does not change the reason why I chose to run for governor in the first place," Ecker said. "Maryland needs strong, proven, successful leadership. It's even more important today than it was before Louis died."
His running mate, Windsor, said she never considered running for office before Ecker asked her to join his ticket.
Schoenke declared his candidacy for governor Jan. 20 at a time when Glendening appeared far more vulnerable. But despite an expensive advertising blitz, the campaign made little headway.
The 56-year-old former Washington Redskins football player said his campaign's polling numbers showed Glendening's position improving dramatically. Rehrmann's campaign said Schoenke's poll numbers never reached double digits.
In addition to Rehrmann, Glendening also faces primary challenges from Dr. Terry A. McGuire, a physician from Anne Arundel County, and Lyndon R. LaRouche ally Lawrence K. Freeman of Baltimore.
Maryland candidates
These candidates filed to run for statewide office by last night's deadline. Any who change their minds have until July 16
to withdraw.
@GOVERNOR/LT. GOVERNOR
Democrats
Parris N. Glendening and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend
Eileen M. Rehrmann and Sidney Kramer
Terry McGuire and Robert J. Dalton
Lawrence K. Freeman and Mark S. Nafziger
Republicans
Ellen R. Sauerbrey and Richard Bennett
Charles I. Ecker and Barbara Windsor
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Democrat
$ J. Joseph Curran Jr.
Republican
Paul Rappaport
COMPTROLLER
Democrats
Michael D. Barnes
Gerald E. Berg
Joseph E. Carey
Mary Pat Clarke
Joseph J. DiBlasi
Kenneth Frederick
Lawrence E. Keval
Julian L. Lapides
Joan M. Pratt
William Donald Schaefer
Eugene A. Walsh
Lih Young
Republicans
Ardath Cade
Larry Mark Epstein
Jeff Hooke
Robert W. Kearns
Timothy R. Mayberry
Michael Steele
Eugene R. Zarwell
U.S. SENATE
Democrats
Barbara A. Mikulski
Kauko H. Kokkonen
Karen C. King
Ann L. Mallory
Republicans
Michael Gloth
Bradlyn McLanahan
Thomas Scott
Kenneth L. Wayman II
George Liebmann
John Taylor
Barry Steve Asbury
Haward David Greyber
Ross Z. Pierpont
John Stafford
Pub Date: 7/07/98