I read the article by Annie Linskey in The Baltimore Sun: "Lesser-known candidates also want to be governor" (July 10). Elections cycles usually seem just like a redundant washing of political laundry, with one of two choices, the Republican or the Democrat being "pressed" into service for the next four years.

I hear the two major candidates profess their love for the state and that they will work hard. Suppose for a moment that a lesser-known dark-horse candidate would run and say if he's elected Governor, he will give a small cubicle to Bob Ehrlich Jr. and Martin O'Malley in an anteroom to the Governor's Office. Their job: advisors to the next governor. If that happened, the newcomer could have the best advice possible — fair and balanced.

I fully maintain that a dark-horse candidate would have more zest, more gusto, and more earnest diligence in performing the tasks of being Governor. Ehrlich and O'Malley crave the "title" and the perks of governor … but if someone else won, I seriously doubt whether they (Ehrlich and O'Malley) could swallow their pride to serve in a corner office cubicle as an advisor. They could still show their love for the state in an advisory role. But their profession of loving the state might diminish somewhat if they aren't in the limelight. I'd like to see Maryland and other states elect new candidates instead of tired old re-treads.

James A. Marples, Longview, Texas