Gov. Parris N. Glendening wants Marylanders to grant him a second four-year term so he can build on programs and policies that he says have improved the quality of life in every part of the state.
He cites such accomplishments as careful stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay in a time of crisis, a record school-construction program, a 10-percent income tax cut, renewed focus on high-crime "hot spots," and adamant opposition to expansion of gambling via slot machines or casinos.
Persistently poor job-performance ratings in various polls led some observers to wonder if Marylanders connect Glendening with these accomplishments, so he has been using his powers of incumbency to grab their attention.
During the last two months, budget surpluses have allowed him to announce grants and programs totaling at least $95 million. They include:
* $25 million to protect from development 1,850 acres of land at Chapman's Landing in Charles County.
* $10 million for anti-crime measures.
* $49.7 million for new road projects, bus service and transportation planning in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
* $10.7 million to buy Smith Farm and turn it into a Howard County park.
Asked to comment on such moves, the 56-year-old Democrat insisted he has made them only when they were ready to be made. "That's just when things happen to roll out," he said.
Glendening - with little strong opposition in the Democratic primary - appears positioned to emerge from the Sept. 15 vote in better-than-expected shape.
Feared by some as a potentially ruinous intra-party bloodletting, the primary fight fizzled more than a month before the balloting, as two major Democratic challengers made minor headway this summer. Glendening has the luxury of hoarding his robust campaign fund for his likely fall match with Republican front-runner Ellen R. Sauerbrey.
Former Washington Redskins football player Raymond F. Schoenke Jr. spent $2 million of his fortune without creating a ripple in the electoral pool. A millionaire insurance executive, he withdrew July 6, endorsing Glendening and calling him unbeatable.
Harford County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann, unable to raise another $1 million to put her message on television, dropped out Aug. 10.
Rehrmann's name remains on the Sept. 15 ballot because she quit the campaign after the official withdrawal deadline. If she gains votes, they might reflect hard-core opposition to Glendening, but that seems remote.
Still in the fray is Dr. Terry McGuire, 56, a Davidsonville physician who has spent a half-million dollars of his money to finance a primary challenge characterized by a full array of issue positions and plenty of roadside sign waving.
McGuire is a pro-labor, anti-abortion candidate. He promises to get tougher on criminals, to distribute higher-education funding on a more equitable basis, to relieve farmers of unfair regulations, and to capture a bonanza of gambling revenue - if voters in various localities approve slot machines in local referendums.
McGuire's name was recognized by only about 1 percent of the Democratic voters in a recent poll, leading to the question, "Why has he remained in the race?" But McGuire has pinned his hopes on the belief that voters will find him a refreshing alternative.
He has been particularly critical of Glendening on gambling: "The governor had no moral opposition to wide-open casino gambling in PG County for 12 years, no moral opposition to [lottery] money to pay for the Ravens stadium and Oriole Park, and no concern about keno in every establishment and bar in Maryland. I believe he's talking on both sides of his mouth on slots."
Also on the ballot is Lawrence K. Freeman, a 47-year-old writer from Catonsville and a follower of Lyndon LaRouche, the controversial right-wing activist.
Glendening's campaign highlights are covered in television commercials running on Baltimore-area stations: the income tax
cut, increased spending on education, reduced handgun sales, and his fight against the toxic microbe Pfiesteria that threatens Chesapeake water quality, the fish industry and human health.
In his campaign report to the voters, Glendening acknowledges his partnership with the state legislature that passed many of his initiatives after considerable squabbling. Glendening was often a tough negotiator but compromised liberally to win passage of reshaped versions of his proposals. Two products of this approach - the land and resource preservation measure called Smart Growth, and his bill to combat fertilizer runoff linked to Pfiesteria - earned him national attention.
Maryland's surging economy allowed him to propose a 10
percent income tax cut in 1997, though he resisted the idea at first. The schedule for the cut was accelerated, and taxpayers are getting the first 5 percent reduction this year.
After Glendening's 1996 handgun bill passed, sales fell in Maryland by 25 percent. Some gun dealers maintain that the drop was the result of a business slump, not the new law. But others credit the governor with the political courage to oppose the powerful gun lobby.
Rehrmann built her challenge to this record on the assumption that Marylanders would want to stop the flow of gambling money to Delaware and West Virginia and, therefore, support slot machines at race tracks. Glendening adamantly opposes that move. His position has prevailed. Rehrmann failed to gain financial support, popular following or name recognition.
The governor's bully-pulpit lectures about the evils of additional gambling - slots, casinos and more - have made him seem strong and his opponents opportunistic or reckless. African-American churches oppose slots, so Glendening's African-American base has been solidly behind him.
With gambling atop Rehrmann's agenda, her $1 billion education aid proposal received little attention.
Glendening has attempted to claim the education issue, by brokering a $252 million deal in 1997 to help Baltimore's beleaguered public schools and by pledging $500 million for building and renovating schools during the next two years. This year, he also pushed for millions of dollars more to educate poor children across the state.
Rehrmann and other Glendening opponents criticized him for committing more than $270 million in state funds to help pay for football stadiums in Baltimore and Prince George's County.
By dint of largess and resolute campaigning, the governor has kept himself and his campaign on the offensive. Sometimes, his new spending proposals accomplished more than one purpose: The congestion-easing road projects for Montgomery and Prince George's were clearly designed, for example, to take the edge off criticism from those who rue his call for further study of the controversial Inter-County Connector.
Once regarded as the nation's most beatable incumbent governor - in part because of a publicly financed pension-enhancement scheme he approved and participated in, and because of fund-raising excesses - Glendening runs with renewed confidence.
If he has made a blunder in the campaign, it might have come when he suggested to The Sun's editorial writers that he might consider building a new state-of-the-art racetrack - immediately dubbed "Glendening Downs" by Rehrmann, who said the money should be spent on schools. Racing officials estimated the cost at $120 million.
Rehrmann, Sauerbrey and others hoped that proposal would mark him indelibly as a big spender, willing to consider another big-ticket stadium expenditure, even as he is criticized for the stadiums already built.
But, as Glendening's primary opponents lost ground, he has turned his rhetorical cannons toward Republican Sauerbrey, who proposed the most attention-getting initiative of the campaign. She promised Marylanders who are 65 or older a significant tax break.
Under her proposal, as much as $33,000 of retirement income would be exempt from state taxes after the taxpayer turns 65. Maryland excludes the first $15,900 of retirement income from taxation.
After accusing Sauerbrey of "pandering" to retirees, Glendening came back a day later to say, "Me, too."
"We've been working aggressively on behalf of seniors," he told 60 white-haired men and women in the lunch room at Leisure World in Montgomery County.
He was working to reshape his professorial image. He tried on one pensioner's straw hat, toured a ceramics class and drew chuckles by recounting how his grandfather remarried several years ago.
Terry McGuire
Age: 56
Home: Davidsonville, Anne Arundel County.
Family: Wife, Magdalena. Two surviving children.
Education: B.S., biology, Georgetown University. M.D., University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Experience: Physician with general practice in Seat Pleasant, Prince George's County, for 28 years. Manager of two family farms, in Goldsboro, Caroline County and Aquasco, Prince George's County. Former vice president, McGuire Brothers Builders. Has never held political office.
Running mate: Robert J. Dalton, international business consultant and retired U.S. Marine lieutenant colonel.
Parris N. Glendening
Age: 56
Home: University Park, Prince George's County.
Family: Wife, Frances Anne. One son.
Education: B.A., M.A., Ph.D., government and urban politics, Florida State University.
Experience: Hyattsville City Council, 1973-1974. Prince George's County Council, 1974-1982, including two years as chairman. Prince George's County executive, 1982-1994. Governor, state of Maryland, 1995 to present. Associate professor, University of Maryland College Park, 1967-1994.
Running mate: Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, lieutenant governor since 1995 and former deputy assistant U.S. attorney general.
DEMOCRATS ON THE ISSUES
TAXES: Glendening and the General Assembly approved a 10 percent cut in state income taxes last year, and the governor says he would consider additional cuts. McGuire says he would eliminate the tax on retirement income; currently, Maryland exempts from taxes the first $15,900 of an individual's retirement income. McGuire also supports elimination of the business personal property tax and the state's real property tax.
CRIME: Glendening has eliminated parole for inmates serving life terms. In the next term, he says he would expand the "hot spot" program that combines state and local police efforts in high-crime areas. He would also increase spending on crime-prevention initiatives and seek stiffer penalties for repeat rapists. McGuire supports an end to parole for all violent offenders. Like Glendening, he proposes establishment of a DNA bank for violent offenders to provide evidence that could link them to other crimes. Both men support the death penalty.
EDUCATION: Glendening proposes hiring, at state expense, 1,100 new teachers for early reading and 7th-grade math classes. He says he would continue his school-construction effort, pledging $500 million to build and renovate schools in the next two years. He would expand the state's scholarship program for science students with B averages; he wants it to cover education majors and, over four years, all students who attend Maryland campuses. McGuire calls for phonics-based reading instruction through 3rd grade and for a policy on higher education funding in which state spending is equalized at every campus.
ENVIRONMENT: Glendening intends to campaign on his record. Highlights include his sponsorship of two important environmental measures - one to encourage growth in existing urban centers and another to control nutrient run-off into the Chesapeake Bay to fight toxic Pfiesteria. He has also expanded funding for the purchase of green space, such as Smith Farm in Howard County and the Chapman's Landing site in Charles County. McGuire would push for repeal of Glendening's runoff control program, contending it is not supported by scientific evidence. He opposes use of Site 104, about a mile off the northern tip of Kent Island, for dumping of shipping channel dredge spoil.
SLOTS: Glendening promises to veto legislation authorizing casino-style gambling in Maryland, including any move to allow slot machines at horse tracks. McGuire opposes casinos and slot machines at race tracks but would support a statewide referendum on whether to allow state-owned slots at up to five locations, with 10 percent of the proceeds going to racing purses and the remainder earmarked for tax relief.
More information is available about the candidates at their websites:
Glendening: www. glendening.org
McGuire: www.mcguire4gov.com
C. Fraser Smith has been covering the governor's race for The Sun.
Pub Date: 9/06/98