For nearly four years, Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey has worked relentlessly toward a rematch with Gov. Parris N. Glendening. The only thing standing in her way is a quietly competent county executive named Charles I. Ecker.
Ecker and Sauerbrey face off Sept. 15 in the Republican primary. Pollsters and pundits expect her to win by a wide margin, but Ecker is determined to offer GOP voters a choice.
In political shorthand, Ecker, 69 and finishing his second term as Howard County executive, is the moderate in the race. Sauerbrey, 60 and a former state legislator from Baltimore County, is the conservative.
But voters listening to the candidates' rhetoric might have trouble hearing that difference. Both have promised to improve the state's business climate, trim regulations, sharply limit parole for violent criminals and beef up discipline and standards in public schools. Neither has shown much enthusiasm for divisive social issues such as abortion.
The most important differences between them might lie in their leadership styles. Sauerbrey is a battler - passionate and articulate, driven by conservative ideas. Ecker is a manager - steady and predictable, with a knack for bringing opposing sides together.
"Ellen is a 'what' person, and Chuck is a 'how' person," says GOP consultant Carol Arscott, who has advised both candidates at different times during the past decade. "Ellen probably knows exactly what she would do as governor and would get to the 'how' details later, whereas Chuck probably knows exactly how he would run the government but at this point isn't exactly sure what he'd do if he got there."
Sauerbrey has honed her message - focusing on cutting taxes, fighting crime and going back to the basics in schools - during five years of almost nonstop campaigning.
She was Republican leader in the House of Delegates but little known outside her Baltimore County district when she first ran for governor in 1994.
With a pledge to slash income taxes by 24 percent, she beat then-Rep. Helen Delich Bentley in the 1994 GOP primary. Less than two months later, Sauerbrey came within 6,000 votes of becoming Maryland's first Republican governor in nearly three decades.
Her showing was historic, signaling a surge of Republican strength in a state long dominated by Democrats. But Sauerbrey tarnished her image by contending that Glendening's narrow victory was a product of vote fraud. When the case withered away in court, she earned an enduring nickname - "Ellen Sourgrapes."
The loss and the controversy did not dim Sauerbrey's desire to be governor. She continued campaigning, with her new goal the 1998 election. She also began to retool her message, broadening it beyond tax cuts and moderating its tone.
On abortion and gun control - two issues crucial to some of her conservative supporters - Sauerbrey has said that while she personally opposes both, she does not intend to fight to overturn Maryland's gun control and abortion rights laws. The main exception concerns a controversial late-term abortion procedure that both she and Ecker want banned.
Sauerbrey also has downplayed her support of school vouchers. The issue is popular with conservatives because it allows parents to use public money to send their children to private or parochial schools. In 1994, Glendening used the issue to paint her as an enemy of public education.
Sauerbrey still supports school vouchers but says her priority is reforming the public schools; rarely does she let a campaign stop pass without a mention of her years as a high-school science teacher in Baltimore County.
She also speaks of bolstering reading instruction by teaching phonics, instilling more discipline in classrooms and ending so-called "social promotion," in which poorly performing students pass grades to keep pace with their peers. Also, she wants to abolish parole for violent criminals and create a new statewide Juvenile Court to deal with young offenders.
But the key to Sauerbrey's message remains economics. She argues that Maryland's economy lags behind the region's because of high taxes, excessive regulation and a state government that, under Glendening, is not spending money wisely.
"We have a governor who is an underachiever, and our state is underperforming," she says.
She frequently criticizes the governor's support of spending $270 million on two new football stadiums and his reluctance to build the Inter-County Connector through traffic-clogged Montgomery County.
But, as in 1994, her top economic issue is an income tax cut. She still supports a 24 percent overall cut - the 10 percent that Glendening and the legislature passed plus 14 percent more. Part of that would include her proposed tax break for retirees.
Anyone older than 65 would be able to exempt $33,000 of retirement income from state taxes. That would more than double the current exemption, for a savings of up to $800 a year.
Ecker has said he, too, would consider a tax cut - but only after cutting state spending. Such caution is typical of his style.
In Howard, he guided the county through a painful recession with a series of austerity measures. Now, the county has a triple-A bond rating, a streamlined bureaucracy and job growth among the strongest in the state. To top it off, he cut Howard's income tax rate by 4 percent - to the lowest level in the Baltimore area.
This history of prudent management - and Sauerbrey's lack of executive experience - is at the heart of Ecker's campaign for governor.
As she has focused on issues, he has talked about resumes, arguing that he is better equipped to run the state than she is. He contrasts his record of bringing opposing sides together on such tricky issues as development with her history of partisan struggle in the legislature.
"She's a legislator, spent 16 years voting on legislation, never had the responsibility for implementing it," Ecker says. "If someone were to hire someone to run their company, they would not pick someone with no experience."
He has also distanced himself from Sauerbrey on the issue of gambling. He rules out allowing slot machines at the state's race tracks, while she has left the door open to the possibility. And he has criticized Sauerbrey's long record of opposing environmental legislation.
But Ecker's campaign has not caught fire. He has had particular trouble winning support from the conservative party activists who typically dominate Republican primary elections.
Many GOP legislators, including several key ones in Howard County, credit Sauerbrey's work in the State House with giving the party the ideological clarity to grow. In addition, her near miss in 1994 has convinced party leaders that she deserves a second chance at Glendening.
Ecker, by contrast, is not naturally partisan and has struggled to win support among Republican activists.
He was a Democrat, a retired school official, when GOP leaders in Howard recruited him for the county executive's race in 1990. Despite his switch, his instincts are toward conciliation, not confrontation, between the parties.
In speeches, Ecker stresses his ability to deal with Democrats - a point more suited to winning votes in a general election race than in a Republican primary. And he has often seemed shy campaigning, reluctant to attack Sauerbrey and reluctant to introduce himself to new people.
"He'd be a much better governor than he is a campaigner," says Howard County Councilman Darrel E. Drown, a longtime friend and supporter.
For that reason, Sauerbrey has looked past Ecker as she gears up for her expected rematch with Glendening.
The day Glendening's main rival, Harford County Executive Eileen M. Rehrmann, dropped out of the race, Sauerbrey quickly called a press conference to declare the beginning of the general election race. She traveled to Lexington Market in downtown Baltimore the next morning to campaign among Democrats.
Ecker has been trying to turn up the heat on Sauerbrey with television and radio ads. "People tell me," he says, "they don't want the same choice they had the last time."
Ellen R. Sauerbrey
Age: 60
Home: Baldwin, Baltimore County.
Family: Husband, Wilmer. No children.
Education: B.A., English and biology, Western Maryland College.
Experience: Maryland House of Delegates, 1979-1995. House minority leader, 1987-1995. Former high school science teacher.
Running mate: Richard D. Bennett, Baltimore lawyer and former U.S. attorney.
Charles I. Ecker
Age: 69
Home: Columbia, Howard County.
Family: Wife, Peggy. Two sons.
Education: B.A., biology and physical education, Western Maryland College. M.Ed., physical education, University of North Carolina. Ph.D, education administration, elementary education and physical education, University of North Carolina.
Experience: Teacher and coach, Carroll County public schools, 1951-1954. Teacher and superintendent, Carroll County public schools, 1956-1967. Assistant superintendent and director of business affairs, Prince George's County public schools, 1967-1974. Assistant superintendent and deputy superintendent, Howard County public schools, 1974-1989. -Z Howard County Executive, 1990 to present.
Running mate: Barbara J. Windsor, a Frederick County trucking company executive.
REPUBLICANS ON THE ISSUES
TAXES: Sauerbrey in 1994 proposed cutting state income taxes by 24 percent. She says she still supports that goal and would push for a 14 percent cut, on top of the 10 percent reduction approved by the governor and the legislature last year. She wants to target some of the tax relief to senior citizens. Under her plan, an individual over 65 would pay no state taxes on the first $33,000 of retirement income, for savings of up to $800 a year. Maryland currently exempts from taxes the first $15,900 of retirement income after age 65. Ecker has not proposed a tax-cut plan. He says he favors lowering state taxes but would do only after cutting state spending.
CRIME: Sauerbrey wants to abolish parole for violent criminals and create a statewide Juvenile Court to deal with young offenders. She wants to double - to 10 years - the mandatory minimum sentence for using a firearm in a crime of violence. Ecker says violent criminals should serve at least 85 percent of their sentences before being eligible for parole. He has proposed allowing school and law-enforcement officials access to the criminal records of juveniles and would seek legislation to revoke the license of anyone under 21 caught drinking and driving. Both candidates support the death penalty.
EDUCATION: Sauerbrey proposes hiring, at state expense, an additional 1,001 teachers over four years for classrooms across the state. She also says she would use her office to promote the use of phonics-based reading instruction, though such curriculum decisions would be left to local school boards and the state board. Ecker says he would address the state's teacher shortage through a new tuition-assistance program for education majors; their debt would be forgiven if they taught in Maryland schools for a time. He says he would toughen the state's teacher certification and recertification laws, particularly for reading teachers, and work to strengthen curricula for education majors.
ENVIRONMENT: Both Sauerbrey and Ecker criticize Glendening as overreacting to last summer's Pfiesteria outbreaks. Both also say state government must balance environmental protection with concern for economic growth. Sauerbrey says the state should repopulate the Chesapeake Bay with aquatic grasses and disease-resistant oysters, a goal some marine biologists doubt is feasible. Ecker says he would help create markets to use recycled materials and would provide tax breaks to encourage businesses involved in recycling.
SLOTS: Ecker says he would not allow slot machines at Maryland racetracks. Sauerbrey says she would be reluctant to allow slots but might consider the idea if necessary to save the state's racing industry.
More information is available about the candidates at their websites:
Sauerbrey: www.ellen98.org
Ecker: www.eckerformd.org
Craig Timberg has been covering the governor's race for The Sun.
Pub Date: 9/06/98