Maryland Community Newspapers Online
|
|
|
Maryland Community Newspapers Online
|
|
Who’s nextOne election is coming up, but another one is right around the corner. Who will be the players in 2010?Friday, Oct. 13, 2006
So much of what may — or may not — happen four years from now depends on this year’s statewide elections. Republicans could find themselves back in the wilderness if Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. loses re-election and Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele is defeated for the U.S. Senate. ‘‘Assuming that Ehrlich and Steele lose — but it’s close — you could see an Ehrlich-O’Malley rematch in 2010,” said Donald E. Murphy, a former GOP delegate from Baltimore County and a lobbyist in Annapolis. ‘‘If it’s a rout, we could be talking about Drew Ehrlich and Ross Brinkley running in the 2038 election.” Murphy’s prediction for Ehrlich’s older son, Drew, and for Frederick Republican Sen. David R. Brinkley’s son, Ross, was tongue-in-cheek, but his concern about the dismal outlook for Republicans if Ehrlich loses to Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley and Steele falls to U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin — as some recent polls have suggested — is real. ‘‘If all things bad happen for the GOP, there are not going to be a lot of good opportunities for statewide candidates in 2010,” Murphy said, noting that potential GOP statewide candidates, such as Sen. E.J. Pipkin of the Upper Eastern Shore and Sens. Alexander X. Mooney and Brinkley from Western Maryland, would stand better chances if they run for Congress. If Ehrlich or Steele wins — or the Democratic Party’s nightmare comes true and they both win — the Republican Party’s renaissance in blue Maryland will be national news. A second Ehrlich term is also likely to spawn a new crop of potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates. Another wild card for 2010 is whether U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D) will stand for re-election. If she retires, expect a cascade of Democratic and Republican wannabes — including Ehrlich, win or lose — to step up. The retirement of U.S. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D) prompted 18 Democrats and 10 Republicans to run for his seat this year. But ambitious Democrats could be in for a 2010 snoozefest if O’Malley wins next month. Unlike this year, where a lot of statewide offices are up for grabs, politics could turn sclerotic in 2010 if both O’Malley and Mikulski run for re-election. ‘‘If the Democrats run the table and Mikulski doesn’t retire, we go back into the pre-2002 political slumber,” said Thomas Schaller, a political scientist at the University of Maryland Baltimore County and a Democratic Party insider. ‘‘That’s the least interesting scenario looking ahead to 2010. It will be back to gridlock.” Here’s our take on who the up-and-comers will be in 2010.
Democrats |
 |
Top Jobs
Loading...
Classifieds |
E-Mail This Article
