Between applause and smiles, a politician bows

Focus now turns to running mate Stuart Simms for statewide office

Friday, June 23, 2006

Click here to enlarge this photo Laurie DeWitt⁄The Gazette Douglas M. Duncan: ‘‘When I announced my candidacy for governor in October, I challenged the people in Maryland to think bigger for our state, for our future and for our children. ... I still believe that we can move Maryland forward to better things – that we can create a State of greatness. But today, I want to say that I will not be leading that effort.”

‘‘While I’m sure Martin O’Malley is publicly subdued and gracious, the truth is someone just handed him a major gift,” said former Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D). ‘‘It clears the picture for O’Malley.”

Instead of waging an expensive and divisive primary campaign, O’Malley can focus on the general election by zeroing in on Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and locking down Democratic support around the state. And now his campaign can spend more time building an organization in Duncan’s strongholds of Montgomery and Prince George’s counties.

Fund-raising for O’Malley is likely to pick up with Duncan out of the picture. O’Malley now has the luxury of husbanding his resources to use against Ehrlich this fall in a campaign expected to shatter the state’s fund-raising records.

‘‘It’s a seismic event,” said Sen. Brian E. Frosh (D-Dist. 16) of Bethesda of Duncan’s withdrawal. ‘‘It gives O’Malley a clear path to the general election. I was concerned that whoever won the primary would be broke.”

The governor’s supporters downplayed any advantage for O’Malley.

Duncan’s departure ‘‘provides an opportunity for voters to clearly focus on the record that Martin O’Malley has in the city of Baltimore, including the city’s school system problems and murder rate,” said House Minority Whip Anthony J. O’Donnell (R-Dist. 29C) of Lusby. ‘‘The more people get to know Martin O’Malley, the more uncomfortable people will become.”

Del. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. said Duncan supporters like him will gravitate to O’Malley.

‘‘The larger goal here is to restore a progressive agenda for the state of Maryland that has been derailed by this governor,” said Madaleno (D-Dist. 18) of Kensington. ‘‘I think people will go to Martin O’Malley because he is someone certainly capable of doing that.”

Simms in the spotlight

Intertwined with the Duncan news was scrambling among Democrats to recruit Simms, a former Baltimore state’s attorney, for the attorney general’s race.

Simms is an African American with a strong track record as a lawyer and Cabinet official under Glendening. Top Democrats are hoping that Simms can pivot from his role as running mate to one as a candidate for attorney general.

There are already two Montgomery Democrats in the race — State’s Attorney Douglas F. Gansler and Councilman Thomas E. Perez.

Analysts say an African-American candidate from the Baltimore region would become an instant force in the race.

‘‘He’s the ideal candidate,” Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach said of Simms.

Gansler and Perez are ‘‘fine people,” he said, but many Democrats ‘‘are hoping that other candidates will file.”

An upbeat Miller told reporters Thursday that Simms would provide needed diversity to the Democratic Party’s statewide ticket.

Frosh, who flirted with a bid of his own for attorney general, agreed that Simms would have an instant advantage in the race to succeed retiring Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D).

‘‘Having two white men from Montgomery County versus an African American from Baltimore is a huge advantage for Stuart Simms,” he said.

Key members of the Legislative Black Caucus spent Thursday making phone calls in an effort to recruit Simms into the race.

Simms, like Duncan, did not answer questions after Thursday’s announcement.

Our opinion Mr. Duncan’s bravery Gazette editorial Barry Rascovar Duncan makes the ‘right move’ Blair Lee Maryland politics after Duncan Related coverage * Duncan drops out * Colleagues, constituents, neighbors saddened by Duncan’s withdrawal * Stresses of campaigning can bring on depression for some A legacy built on a ‘can-do’ attitude * Reaction to Duncan's withdrawal * Transcript of Duncan's statement Multimedia Photo gallery: Doug Duncan in pictures Graphic: Timeline of a political career

Simms fits the attorney general profile for many Democrats, but he would be trailing Gansler and Perez in terms of fund-raising and campaign organization. Gansler has raised more than $1 million and has been campaigning for months. Perez, too, has been raising money and this week hired Colleen Martin-Lauer, O’Malley and Curran’s fund-raiser.

‘‘We’re forging ahead,” Perez said.

‘‘We’re looking forward to taking our case to Maryland’s voters,” said Michael Morrill, a Gansler campaign spokesman.

What’s next

Unlike 2002 when the Democratic Party cleared the field for an untested statewide candidate in Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, O’Malley is more battle-tested because he faced months of aggressive campaigning from Duncan.

Duncan dinged O’Malley repeatedly this year on the city’s crime statistics and difficulties in its schools. Ehrlich is likely to hammer away on those themes, too, but O’Malley aides say they weathered Duncan’s attacks and will do the same with Ehrlich’s.

‘‘We have an extremely developed campaign operation as a result of several months of fierce campaigning in a Democratic primary,” said Del. Anthony G. Brown (D-Dist. 25) of Mitchellville, O’Malley’s running mate. ‘‘That’s the difference between our campaign and the campaign four years ago.”

Duncan’s exit also will allow Democratic voters to focus more attention on the U.S. Senate primary, which has been on the back burner so far this year.

As for Duncan’s political future, analysts say things have changed since the 1972 presidential race when reports that U.S. Sen. Thomas J. Eagleton had undergone electric shock therapy in the 1960s forced him to withdraw as George McGovern’s running mate. But the news apparently did not bother Missouri voters, who returned Eagleton to the Senate in 1974 and 1980.

‘‘I’m confident that this is not the last time you’ll see Doug Duncan,” Miller said, noting that Duncan would make a great transportation secretary in an O’Malley administration.