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Defections, money woes plague Simms

Campaign manager defends change to a volunteer-based strategy; other observers aren’t so sure it will work

Friday, Aug. 4, 2006

Once the state Democratic Party’s can’t-miss attorney general candidate, Stuart O. Simms has endured a turbulent week that saw dwindling funds lead to the dismantling of his professional campaign team and an abrupt shift to a less costly, more volunteer-based strategy.

The purge of paid workers and switch to a completely new strategy come less than six weeks before the Sept. 12 Democratic primary pitting Simms against Montgomery County State’s Attorney Douglas F. Gansler and Montgomery County Councilman Thomas E. Perez (Dist. 5) of Takoma Park.

‘‘We simply did not need a large paid staff,” said Larry Gibson, a veteran Baltimore political operative who is Simms’ campaign manager. ‘‘He’s got enough friends and enough supporters — people who understand that his credentials are superior — that it was a not proper use of resources.”

But political observers say Simms could use an experienced team of political strategists to promote his campaign statewide, particularly because he entered the race just last month after Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan abandoned his gubernatorial bid. That freed Simms, his running mate, to run for attorney general.

Sources close to the Simms campaign said at least six staffers have resigned, including his entire finance team, scheduler and press secretary.

The exodus has been attributed to two factors: the campaign’s lack of money to continue meeting the payroll and the management by Gibson, the strategist behind former Baltimore mayor Kurt L. Schmoke’s campaigns.

Sources said Gibson has poured thousands of dollars into campaign fliers, road signs and bumper stickers without having the volunteers to distribute them. That depleted funds for paychecks, leaving campaign staffers with a decision to stay on as volunteers or leave.

‘‘This campaign has bought more chum than any of the other statewide candidates combined,” said one source familiar with the Simms campaign, referring to signs and other paraphernalia.

One of Simms’ leading backers, State Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., said he suspects the Simms campaign was forced to deal with the high overhead carried over from the gubernatorial ticket. ‘‘All of a sudden, he inherited all of these Doug Duncan people and all of their salaries and there was nobody to pay the bill ... so he had to rethink his entire campaign,” he said.

Gibson also has rubbed the wrong way both Miller and another top Simms supporter, Baltimore Orioles owner and legal giant Peter G. Angelos.

But even Miller said it is hard to dispute Gibson’s past success.

‘‘Although I believe signs don’t vote and a better use of the money is in television and direct mail, Larry Gibson’s methods over the years have proven to be effective,” said Miller (D-Dist. 27) of Chesapeake Beach.

Despite the chilly relationship with Gibson, Angelos remains one of Simms’ highest-profile supporters. Many of Simms’ political strategy meetings — and a private Wednesday evening fund-raiser — have been held in Angelos’ offices in downtown Baltimore.

‘‘Peter has known Stu Simms in his capacity as secretary, state’s attorney and as a private practicing attorney,” said Gerard E. Evans, Angelos’ lobbyist in Annapolis, who is playing a top role in the Simms campaign. ‘‘Peter is committed 100 percent to getting him elected attorney general.”

A shortened campaign

Still, Simms’ late start has put him behind the curve in building a campaign infrastructure.

Simms was handed the foundation of a statewide campaign from the aborted Duncan campaign, including staffers, office space, phone banks and volunteers.

A source familiar with the Simms campaign said that in addition to staff, Duncan was prepared to ‘‘push the limits on the state campaign financing law” and transfer $100,000 from his Friends of Doug Duncan account to the Duncan-Simms slate account for Simms to use in his attorney general bid.

But that was shot down by the Simms camp because of the potential for negative publicity and concerns that donors to Duncan could object to Simms receiving a large chunk of cash.

‘‘The Gansler camp psyched them out,” the source said.

In an interview Thursday, Simms called the potential transfer a ‘‘very tough decision,” but was hesitant to move ‘‘in an area that has a shade of gray.”

So, Simms accepted the maximum transfer of $6,000 and tried to fill his treasury without outside aid. And his supporters consider that a wise move to avoid negative exposure. ‘‘Those stories don’t read well,” said Sen. Thomas ‘‘Mac” Middleton (D-Dist. 28) of Waldorf, pointing to recent coverage of a similar controversy involving the congressional campaign of Sen. Paula C. Hollinger (D-Dist. 11) of Pikesville. ‘‘You put yourself on the defensive and it takes away from the positives you’re trying to get out to people.”

Simms said his campaign staff departures were a casualty of limited resources ‘‘that come with the shortness of time.”

Added a leading Simms supporter, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey (D), who said he won his 2002 election without paid staff: ‘‘Him getting in the race late and having less money than Gansler means the only way we’re really going to pull it off is through a grassroots effort. Money’s important, but I think we de-emphasize the grassroots.”

Endorsements bingo

Gibson, a University of Maryland Law School professor who has managed Simms’ political committee for almost two decades, said the campaign can lean on volunteers and still be successful, in part because Simms has received a large number of endorsements. U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer added his blessing on Thursday.

But Gansler got his own boost Wednesday, picking up endorsements from Prince George’s County’s top two elected officials — U.S. Rep. Albert R. Wynn and County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D).

‘‘Prince George’s County is a place where people know me,” Gansler said. ‘‘... We’ve done a lot of cross-jurisdictional issues with Prince George’s County, so I think it’s an important county and it’s the biggest Democratic county in the state.”

He also emphasized the importance of a geographically diverse Democratic ticket on the November ballot.

Gansler’s supporters offered high praise for Simms, but said they were following through on their previous commitment

‘‘I like Stu Simms, I’m a friend of his, so in that sense, it gave me pause, but the fact is Doug has done a great job and he’s had his eye on this job and been committed to this job for some time,” said Wynn (D-Dist. 4) of Mitchellville. ‘‘It happens in politics sometimes where you find friends are on opposite sides ... but I’m also the type of person who tries to be loyal to my friends.”

Most African-American leaders and Prince George’s elected officials have sided with Simms, so Gansler’s endorsements from Wynn and Johnson were noteworthy.

‘‘One of the things we want to get away from is people supporting people just because they’re African-American or just because they’re white,” said Johnson (D), who had committed to Gansler long before Simms entered the race.

Building on the endorsements, Gansler began airing a 30-second spot on Baltimore television, the first in the attorney general campaign. The ads cost more than $100,000 and will run for a week.

With $2 million at his disposal, Gansler’s campaign expects to be on television until the primary.

‘He’s in a good position’

Meanwhile, a Johns Hopkins University political scientist said race — and geography — still puts Simms in a strong position.

‘‘Remember that 40 percent of Democratic votes in Maryland are African American. He’s running against two white guys,” said Matthew Crenson. ‘‘If there’s high black [voter] turnout, and there probably will be because of the Cardin-Mfume [U.S. Senate] contest, he’s in a very good position.”

Additionally, there is some question about how many votes Wynn and Johnson can deliver when other top Prince George’s officials, such as Ivy, Sens. Ulysses Currie (D-Dist. 25) of Forestville and Nathaniel Exum (D-Dist. 24) of Capitol Heights, are backing Simms.

‘‘It’s not a knockout blow,” Mike Miller said. ‘‘I think the rank-and-file are going to support Stu Simms.”

Simms’ struggles can be partially chalked up to his late start, Middleton said. Many donors have already exhausted their contribution limits, so candidates must spend their money shrewdly.

‘‘I’m sure [Larry Gibson] realizes that getting money to do an adequate media penetration in the Washington and Baltimore markets is very, very expensive,” Middleton said. ‘‘Getting signs, bumper stickers, if you can do that using volunteers you’re going to be much better off. When you’ve got $35,000 a week in payroll, it takes away a lot.”