Lawlah appearing more likely to re-enter school board election

Thursday, Sept. 21, 2006

by Guy Leonard

Staff Writer

Sen. Gloria Lawlah seems poised to get back into the race for one of four at-large school board seats.

But if she does, she may not get the support of the Prince George’s teachers union. When Lawlah dropped out of the school board race in August, she cited lack of an endorsement by the union as one of her principal reasons.

Lawlah says she will look at the how the field of candidates shapes up once the votes are finalized by the Prince George’s Board of Elections.

‘‘I live in a mature part of the county, some call it the ghetto,” Lawlah said of her district. ‘‘‘‘You need some representation for the poorer parts of the county.”

One factor that will help her decide is whether there are any candidates from the Inner Beltway communities on the list when the vote is certified, possibly Friday.

‘‘That will strongly make me make up my mind to run,” Lawlah said.

Lawlah (D-Dist. 26) of Hillcrest Heights, announced that she was retiring from the legislature after 20 years and surprised supporters by saying she intended to pursue election to the school board.

Prince George’s voters are picking nine school board members in the first election of its type since 1998. Current school board members were appointed.

But Lawlah short-circuited her school board campaign when teachers’ union leaders declined to endorse her, saying they’d already made commitments.

Lawlah dropped out of the race after the official deadline and her name remained on the ballot for the Sept. 12 primary.

Without campaigning, Lawlah won the third largest number of votes among candidates for the four at-large seats on the school board, assuring herself a spot on the November ballot.

Despite Lawlah’s popularity, the teachers union still sees no reason to change course and support her, its president said.

‘‘Sen. Lawlah has a lot of name recognition, but I can’t base my decision on name recognition,” said Carol Kilby, president of the Prince George’s County Educators Association. ‘‘We’re committed to the people we’ve endorsed.”

Kilby said Lawlah would do better to stay out of the race, as she had initially indicated.

‘‘She should stand by her word,” Kilby said, adding that if Lawlah reentered the race ‘‘it will demonstrate to me... she’ll say one thing and do another as opportunities arise.”

Lawlah’s name recognition makes her a strong challenger, according to Mel Franklin, president of the Greater Marlboro Democratic Club.

‘‘Someone who was anticipating getting one of those four at-large seats just isn’t going to get it,” Franklin said. ‘‘I feel she’s got too much name recognition to be beaten.

‘‘That means it’s going to be a vigorous competition for the remaining three seats.”

The top eight vote getters in the at-large primary will run for four seats. If Lawlah stays out, the ninth-ranked vote getter would move up. That’s educational consultant Alicia Darensbourg.

Voters also will choose five school board members for five districts. The Sept. 12 primary vote narrowed the field to two candidates for each of the five district seats.

The Greater Marlboro Democratic Club will hold a forum for the 18 at-large and district candidates Sept. 27 at the Largo-Kettering Public Library, 9601 Capital Lane in Largo.

The day before there will be another forum at the Greenbelt Municipal Building at 25 Crescent Road at 7 p.m. for the remaining school board candidates.

E-mail Guy Leonard at gleonard@gazette.net.