State Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman has withdrawn her name from consideration for a high-level lobbying position with the Johns Hopkins University and will seek re-election to the Baltimore-based district she has represented since 1983.
Hoffman, chairwoman of the influential Budget and Taxation Committee, said she was attracted to the possibility of a career change that would carry a salary of more than $200,000, but decided she wanted to accomplish more in Annapolis.
"I wasn't ready to say I've had enough of it," she said yesterday.
Legislative colleagues in the Baltimore region who have relied on Hoffman's expertise expressed relief.
"I'm thrilled," said Del. Maggie L. McIntosh, the House majority leader who, like Hoffman, is a Democrat representing the 42nd District. "To lose her in light of losing other senior senators would have been a fairly dramatic change."
Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell of Perry Hall, chairman of the Finance Committee, resigned this year to head the state's Injured Workers' Insurance Fund. Speculation continues that Sen. Clarence W. Blount of Baltimore, the Senate majority leader, might retire. He has not announced his decision.
Add to the mix the shifting of two Senate districts from the Baltimore region to the Washington suburbs through the once-a-decade redistricting process -- and the possibility that the city will lose more districts in a court-ordered redrawing of the maps -- and the importance of Hoffman's presence grows even more.
"Her departure would have been devastating to the Baltimore region," said Matthew Joseph, director of public policy for Advocates for Children and Youth, who is seeking election as a delegate in Hoffman's district.
Hoffman, 62, works for Hopkins as director of international programs and special projects for the university's Center for Talented Youth. She said she was contacted in April, during the waning days of the legislative session, by a head-hunter seeking to fill a new post, vice president for government, community and public affairs.
She said yesterday that she participated in one round of interviews and had been waiting to hear more. "I was still in contention, and I took myself out," she said. "The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to do it."
The job calls for substantial knowledge of federal affairs as well as state and local government. A university spokesman declined to comment on her candidacy.
Recent success
Hoffman recently finished one of her most gratifying legislative sessions, having played a pivotal role in securing passage of a landmark school funding formula that could add $1.3 billion to the state's classrooms over six years.
The plan appeared doomed as the session drew to a close, but Hoffman and key Senate allies won over a skeptical House of Delegates.
"I don't think I'll ever top that," she said.
With Bromwell's resignation, Hoffman is considering the possibility of switching chairmanships -- she says she has Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller's backing -- to lead the Finance Committee. She will make the move, she said, only if Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend is elected governor.
If Republican Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. wins, Hoffman says she will remain on the budget committee to ensure that "someone with experience" serves as a legislative check against the opposition party.
Prospects bright
Hoffman's re-election prospects appear bright. No Senate challenger has emerged in the 42nd District, which includes Northwest Baltimore and the Ruxton and Riderwood areas of Baltimore County. Observers say it could remain unchanged despite Court of Appeals alterations to the legislative map. Her campaign account has more than $200,000.
She plans to file for re-election Tuesday, with the district's incumbent delegates: McIntosh, Samuel I. Rosenberg and James W. Campbell. The four will run, as they have in the past, as the 42nd District Unity Team.
"This is the best delegation in Annapolis," Hoffman said. "If I didn't have that delegation, I might have made a different decision."