Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend won the support of the statewide Fraternal Order of Police in her bid for governor by a comfortable margin yesterday, trumping Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s endorsement by Baltimore's police union last week.
John A. Bartlett Jr., president of the state law enforcement union, said Townsend won the votes of 27 lodges - the equivalent of a local - and Ehrlich won 16 while 9 abstained. The organization represents about 16,800 state and local law enforcement officers.
Michael E. Morrill, Townsend's spokesman, said the FOP endorsement is significant for the Democrat.
"It says that police statewide who have worked with the lieutenant governor to make dramatic reductions in crime still want to do that," he said.
For Townsend, the statewide union's vote could help ease the sting of Ehrlich's endorsement Monday by Baltimore's FOP lodge - the state's largest. The Republican congressman became the first of his party to win the city union's support for governor in 36 years.
Bartlett said the statewide union's endorsement of Townsend was largely driven by labor issues. He noted that under the administration of Townsend and Gov. Parris N. Glendening, the starting pay for Maryland State Police troopers has risen from about $24,000 to roughly $37,000 - an increase that has had a trickle-down effect on local police departments and sheriff's offices.
"What the Glendening administration has done has truly affected the lives of the deputies and also local law enforcement," said Bartlett, a Democrat who is also sheriff of Calvert County.
Bartlett praised Townsend, who has served as Glendening's coordinator of criminal justice programs, for her responsiveness to the union's concerns. "The lieutenant governor has been law enforcement's go-to person," he said.
Paul E. Schurick, Ehrlich's chief political strategist, belittled the importance of the statewide FOP's nod.
"Of course they have endorsed her," Schurick said. "They're part of the establishment and status quo. The rank-and-file of the FOP supports Bob Ehrlich."
Schurick said the group changed its voting process to favor Townsend and predicted the rank-and-file would overturn the decision at an August convention.
Bartlett, however, said the endorsement is final. He said the FOP followed the same procedures it has used in the two previous gubernatorial elections.
In 1994, the state FOP endorsed Glendening by a single lodge's vote. The group endorsed the governor and lieutenant governor by a wide margin in 1998.
Bartlett said Townsend garnered strong support from rural areas of the state, winning every lodge from Southern Maryland and all but one on the Eastern Shore. He said the lieutenant governor also won the votes of the Prince George's County lodge and the three lodges that represent the State Law Enforcement Officers Labor Alliance, the bargaining agent for the Maryland State Police.
Ehrlich won the support of several of the larger FOP lodges, including Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties as well as Baltimore City. Lodge votes are not weighted by membership.
Candidates who win police union endorsements typically point to them as evidence of their strong records on crime, but they are often awarded on the basis of bread-and-butter issues.
However, leaders of the city lodge explained that a significant reason for not supporting Townsend was their unhappiness with HotSpots - a pet program of the lieutenant governor.
Bartlett said the HotSpots program, which has been criticized by Mayor Martin O'Malley and Commissioner Edward T. Norris, has been a success in other parts of the state.
"HotSpots is a tremendous program that works," Bartlett said. "If it's not working in the city, that comes under the blame of the commissioner."