District line changes and significant turnover in the Baltimore County legislative delegation prompted a broad pool of candidates to file for the county's House of Delegates seats.
Eighty-five candidates from the two major parties are set to square off in the Sept. 10 primaries, and four more from the Libertarians, Greens and independents will try to petition their way onto the November ballot. The county has 21 delegate seats, most of them in three-member districts.
The most crowded race is in the 42nd District, which covers the greater Towson area. The district was substantially changed when the Maryland Court of Appeals redrew the legislative maps in June, so it has only one elected incumbent, Del. John W. Campbell, 54, a Democrat and social worker who moved from the city to Ruxton to stay in the district.
Another delegate, Republican Emil B. Pielke, 60, a Towson attorney, was appointed to fill a vacant seat in the area last year.
Other Democrats running in the district include: Art Buist, 50, of Towson, an attorney and broadcaster with WYPR; Edwin S. Crawford, 54, of Stoneleigh, a banker with Ferris, Baker and Watts; Augustus Prescott Gaylord, 28, of Lutherville, who owns an environmental consulting and software company; John Holman, 52, a State Farm Insurance agent from Towson; Matthew Joseph, 36, of Towson, director of public policy for Advocates for Children and Youth; Stephen W. Lafferty, 53, of Stoneleigh, who is program director for the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development; and Leo Ryan, 43, a Towson attorney.
The other Republicans are: Susan L.M. Aumann of Timonium; John J. Bishop, 54, a Rodgers Forge businessman who was elected to the House from the area in 1986 and 1990; Tony Campbell, 36, of Towson, who is director of development for Baltimore Christian School; Laura A. Downes of Timonium; John C. Fiastro, 24, of Lutherville, a history student at the University of Baltimore and a waiter at Aldo's in Little Italy; William J. Frank, 42, a development and marketing consultant from Lutherville; Walter R. Hayes Jr., 47, a Towson attorney; C. Rob Lee, 38, the receiving manager at the Owings Mills Home Depot store; and John G. Trueschler, 45, of Lutherville.
The 7th District, which includes Cockeysville, Middle River and parts of Harford County, is also highly contested. Del. Nancy M. Hubers, 71, a Democrat from Essex, is seeking re-election.
The other Democrats running in that district are: Brian Bennett, 40, a Middle River attorney; Jeffrey R. Butschky, 35, an attorney from Baldwin; Randy Cogar, 56, owner of a Middle River printing company; Donna M. Felling, 52, of Glen Arm; Norman Gifford Jr., 35, an emergency communications operator; Geoffrey William Holland, 31, a teacher at Dundalk High School; and Roger Zajdel, 56, of Kingsville, who owns the Commodore Bar and Catering Hall.
Republicans running in that district are: Jackie Bailey, 57, a nurse from Hunt Valley; Michael J. Davis, 63, an industrial contractor from Essex; Sheryl L. Davis-Kohl, 40, from Abingdon; Richard K. Impallaria, 39, a business owner from Middle River; J.B. Jennings, 28, a Phoenix resident who owns a trucking business; Pat McDonough; Dilip B. Paliath, 31, an assistant state's attorney from Lutherville; and Christopher Saffer, 23 of Parkville.
The appointment of Del. Michael S. Finifter to the Circuit Court has led to a scramble for delegate seats in the 11th District, which includes Pikesville and Owings Mills. Incumbent Democrats Robert A. Zirkin, 31, an Owings Mills attorney, and Dan K. Morhaim, 53, an emergency room physician from Owings Mills, are seeking re-election.
Other Democrats in the race include: Jon S. Cardin, 32, an attorney and nephew of U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin; Theodore Levin, 57, a Pikesville attorney who served as a delegate for 20 years; Melvin Mintz, 55, a physical therapist from Pikesville who served two terms on the County Council; Dana Stein, 43, director of the Baltimore-based nonprofit Civic Works; and Barney J. Wilson, 43, of Reisterstown, the dean of Learning and Student Development at the Community College of Baltimore County at Dundalk.
Three Republicans are running: J. Michael Collins Sr., 53, a kitchen designer from Reisterstown; Grant Harding, 65, of Owings Mills; and Betty L. Wagner, 58, an accountant and bookkeeper from Reisterstown.
Decisions by two delegates to seek other offices have led to a crowded race in the 8th District, which includes Parkville, Carney, Perry Hall and White Marsh. One incumbent, Republican Alfred W. Redmer, 46, a marketing and public relations specialist, is seeking re-election.
Seven Democrats are seeking seats there. They are: Ruth Baisden, 40, a Parkville community activist; Eric Bromwell, 25, of Parkville, who works for Comcast and is the son of former Sen. Thomas L. Bromwell; Tim Caslin, 50, a retired county police officer and former head of the county Fraternal Order of Police lodge; Walter Thomas Kuebler, 53, of Lutherville, a courier for Lightning Express; Andy Peet, 42, a management consultant for Fair Isaac Inc.; Joseph Michael Ruscito Jr., 40, of Rosedale, an office technician for Verizon; and Todd L. Schuler, 25, a law clerk at the offices of Peter G. Angelos.
Four other Republicans are running: Mark Joseph Austra-Jaskulski, 22, a recent graduate of Syracuse University; Joseph C. Boteler III, 53 of Parkville; M. Norma Lane, 67, of Perry Hall, a branch manager of Parkville Federal Savings Bank; and Mike Rupp, 40, a county firefighter from Carney.
The 10th District, which includes Randallstown, Woodlawn and parts of Owings Mills, saw a shake-up in its delegation in the spring when Sen. Delores G. Kelley dropped Del. Emmett C. Burns from her ticket.
Burns, 61, a minister at Rising Sun First Baptist Church, is running for re-election, as are Del. Adrienne Jones, 54, a county government worker, and Del. Shirley Nathan-Pulliam, 63, a nurse. All are Democrats.
Two other Democrats are seeking seats: Barry N. Chapman, 44, of Owings Mills, a contract monitor for the state and president of the Baltimore County branch of the Maryland State Employees AFSCME Local 422; and N. Scott Phillips, 41, of Woodstock, an attorney and program manager at IBM.
One Republican, Steven D'Arezzo, 31, a computer-assisted drafter from Randallstown, is also running.
In the 6th District, which contains a reunited Dundalk and parts of Essex, all three incumbent Democrats are running for re-election: John S. Arnick, 68, a Dundalk attorney; Joseph J. "Sonny" Minnick, 69, owner of Minnick's Restaurant in Dundalk; and Jake Mohorovic, 52, of Dundalk.
Seven other Democrats are running: Bill Batton, 37, a Dundalk attorney; A.J. Bierman, 55, the owner of several King Mulch and Garden Center stores; Christopher Campbell, 34, of Essex; Rodney J. Donald Jr., 30, a Bethlehem Steel worker; Russ Mirabile, 55, a commercial property manager; C.O. "Buddy" Staigerwald Jr., 38, a BGE electrician and volunteer firefighter; and Michael H. Weir Jr., 53, son of the departing delegate from Essex and captain in the county fire marshal's office.
Three Republicans are seeking the seats: Paul Michael Blitz, 39, of Essex, a private school teacher and radio broadcaster; Jane Brooks, 51, of Dundalk, a former campaign worker for Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.; and Bruce Laing, 47, of Essex.
In District 12A, a two-member district in the Catonsville-Arbutus area, Del. James Malone, 45, a county firefighter from Arbutus, is seeking re-election.
Two other Democrats are running: Steven J. DeBoy Sr., 46, a retired county police officer from Halethorpe, and Craig Ring, 49, a machinist for Sweetheart Cup. Republicans Joe Hooe, 33, of Lansdowne and Harry Korrell, 65, a retired Navy captain from Catonsville, are also running.
In northern Baltimore County, Republican A. Wade Kach, 54, a retired teacher, is seeking re-election in a single-member district.
Two Democrats are seeking the District 5B seat: William Harding Davis, 38, of Parkton, who works for Giant Food, and Stephen C. Kirsch, 50, a Phoenix attorney. Two other Republicans are running: Chris Cavey, 46, an insurance agent from Upperco, and Leslie Sipes, 42, a state government worker from Parkton.