In his struggle to win a second term, Parris N. Glendening has had a major advantage: the vast powers of incumbency.
He's been able to dispense millions from a state treasury flush with cash, attract contributions from those doing business with the state, deputize staff members to speak for him and grab the limelight at will -- whether it's giving an award to a 100-year-old volunteer, introducing Coretta Scott King to a crowd of professional women or hanging his name on tourism ads.
As with every Maryland governor before him, the beauty of incumbency is clear: Almost everything he does is both governmental and political.
During this year's gubernatorial campaign that ends with
Tuesday's election, Glendening has granted or promised prodigious sums for state projects -- ranging from a $15 billion Washington-area subway line to a $108,000-hiking and biking trail in Westminster.
Yesterday he announced that the state would come through with as much as $55 million for continuation of White Marsh Boulevard into an area of northeast Baltimore County that needs the road to build plants, create jobs and produce tax revenue.
"A governor in Maryland has so much at his fingertips," said former governor Marvin Mandel. "We have the strongest strong-executive form of government in the country and he's using it. He's pouring money everywhere."
By contrast, his Republican challenger, Ellen R. Sauerbrey, can only promise.
"We think Parris has gone far over the line in using state resources," said Carol L. Hirschburg, a Sauerbrey spokeswoman. "He's been shameless."
Peter S. Hamm, the governor's campaign manager, retorted: "It certainly is way beyond conventional wisdom that incumbency is an advantage in any race for any office. In this race, I would argue, this governor will win not because of any power of incumbency but because of his position on the issues as contrasted to those of his opponent."
Giving guaranteed
For an incumbent Maryland governor, sitting in the State House is a virtual guarantee that some large givers will contribute. Industry political action committees, utility companies and highway contractors are among the givers.
Take the state's so-called Sunny Day Fund, a program created under Gov. William Donald Schaefer to help lure new businesses to or retain companies in Maryland, that was expanded under Glendening. The controversial program has helped create or save thousands of Maryland jobs, but critics have called it a political slush fund.
Almost 20 of the 60 companies that have received state loans and grants through the fund have given more than $100,000 combined to Glendening's re-election effort -- either directly or through their corporate officers. Among the recipients who have contributed were Staples Inc., Rite Aid Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., MedImmune Inc., FILA USA and T. Rowe Price Associates.
But the record of Sunny Day fund recipients in giving is not cut-and-dried. Many have given nothing. Several have given to Sauerbrey, who has virtually matched the governor in overall fund raising.
Beyond Sunny Day recipients, Glendening's campaign finance report is replete with givers who have reasons to be grateful.
Few actions by Glendening have been as noncontroversial as helping to broker a deal that induced Bethlehem Steel to build a $300 million cold-rolling mill complex at its Sparrows Point plant. That move, which may have averted the closure of the plant and the loss of thousands of jobs, won him praise from Bethlehem and the United Steelworkers of America.
But praise wasn't all. The union has given at least $8,250 to the governor's campaign.
Less-visible givers
Other rewards flow from less-visible actions.
Shortly after Glendening became governor in 1995, his administration cleared the way for Panda Brandywine Corp., a Dallas energy company, to build a water pipeline through a wildlife reserve in Charles County. The company, which along with its affiliates gave Glendening $8,550 for his 1994 race, ponied up $4,000 more in January.
Gift of revenge
Inevitably, some gubernatorial decisions create enemies as well. And for some of the aggrieved, giving well is the best revenge.
Joseph A. De Francis, owner of the Laurel and Pimlico racetracks, is pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the national Republican Party's federal fund to elect GOP governors.
De Francis, whose eagerness to contribute to Glendening led him to break Maryland election law in 1994, has been estranged from the governor since Glendening adopted his "no casinos, no slots, no exceptions" policy in 1996.
L The governor's control over the state's largess is sweeping.
When the Kelly-Springfield Tire Co. says it will leave Cumberland or when General Motors Corp. indicates it might abandon Baltimore, Glendening can convene task forces and promise rescue packages: $50,000 for the Kelly task force and $67.2 million for GM.
Pledging support
Early in the campaign, Glendening also pledged $25 million to purchase Chapman's Landing, a tract in Charles County that environmentalists thought was endangered by developers; $25 million to buy popular Deep Creek Lake from a utility company; and $10.77 million to buy Smith Farm, a large tract in Columbia that Howard County wants to use as a park.
He has also pledged to a large grass-roots group, Baltimoreans United in Leadership (BUILD), to devote an unspecified amount of state funds to create an endowmentlike fund to pay for schools, drug treatment and after-school programs in Baltimore.
While it has not formally endorsed Glendening, BUILD has recruited an army of several hundred volunteers for a door-to-door campaign to educate Baltimore voters on the gubernatorial candidates' stands on issues -- an effort that could boost voter turnout in one of the governor's three key jurisdictions.
Fielding offers
An incumbent does not always have to go looking for such help.
Glendening was asked several months ago by the United Baptist Missionary Convention & Auxiliaries to help with its economic agenda. "As you know," he was told in a letter from John L. Wright, the organization's president, "the faith community wants play an active role in your re-election to a second term."
Wright then laid out five projects, costing $9.3 million, which his group asked Glendening to help finance. No major immediate commitments were made by Glendening.
Much more than money
Money is only the beginning of a sitting governor's leverage.
As Maryland's chief salesman, he is well positioned to sell himself. The state is spending more than $650,000 this year on TV and radio ads touting Maryland as a tourist destination. Each spot -- featured prominently in broadcasts of Orioles baseball games -- concludes with, "Parris N. Glendening, governor."
Other state employees can do the selling as well. At least 15 members of the staffs of the governor and lieutenant governor are putting time in on his re-election effort. Some have taken unpaid leaves from their state jobs and are being compensated by the campaign. Others say they are volunteering.
Wednesday, for example, Secretary of State John T. Willis -- paid $70,000 a year by the state -- represented Glendening in a political radio debate.
Limelight time
Ceremonial functions also provide opportunities for him to remind voters of his work on their behalf. At an awards ceremony this week, it was Glendening who signed an award handed to a 100-year-old volunteer before an audience of 1,200 Marylanders. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew M. Cuomo was in town with $21 million for Balti- more recently, and Glendening was there.
Yesterday, the governor stood before the TV cameras to announce a crime-fighting partnership at Maryland's border with the District of Columbia. Glendening and Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend were joined by Washington Mayor Marion S. Barry Jr., U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer and the police chiefs of the district and Prince George's County on a stage in the parking lot of a convenience store in Fairmount Heights.
They were there to launch a unified patrol effort after years of criminals escaping arrest by crossing the border. The partnership between the District, Prince George's and Montgomery police, along with state police and federal agents, is starting with a $171,000 federal grant.
Glendening said he would throw in another $300,000 to $500,000 for the program in his next budget.
Sun staff writers JoAnna Daemmrich and Thomas W. Waldron contributed to this article.
Glendening's largess Here is a partial list of state grants and spending commitments announced by Gov. Parris N. Glendening this year.
$500 million over the next two years to build and renovate schools. $120 million over four years to hire reading and math teachers.
$49.7 million for new road projects, bus service and transportation planning in Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
$25 million to buy 1,850 acres of land at Chapman's Landing in Charles County.
$10.7 million to buy Smith Farm and turn it into a Howard County park. $10 million for anti-crime measures.
$5 million per year for $3,000-per-year scholarships to Maryland students with B averages if they agree to teach in the state after graduation.
$2 million to help Queen Anne's County buy 675 acres with three miles of shoreline on the Corsica and Chester rivers.
$800,000 toward a new Pfiesteria study. Accelerated a $500,000 grant to supply water to the drought-stricken Allegany community of Lonaconing.
$108,000 to cover half the cost of a segment of a planned 2 1/2 -mile hiking and biking trail on the western side of Westminster.
$180,000 help schools connect with the Internet. Unspecified amount to start investment fund for social programs in Baltimore.
Pub Date: 10/30/98