Democrats, GOP vie for votes in Prince George’s

Senate nominee Steele is successful in courtship of some county Democrats

Thursday, Nov. 2, 2006

by Thomas Dennison

Staff writer

LARGO — The Republican and Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate have turned their attention to courting African-American voters in Prince George’s County as Tuesday’s general election draws closer.

Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele (R) was endorsed by several prominent Prince George’s County Democrats on Monday, including former two-term county executive, Wayne K. Curry, and five of the nine Democratic County Council members.

On Friday, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) — the popular Democrat who may run for president in 2008 — is set to rally voters for U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Dist. 3) of Baltimore at Bowie State University. This week’s visit marks the second time since the September primary that Obama has swooped into Maryland to rally African American voters for the Democratic Party’s statewide ticket. He headlined a Democratic unity rally at the University of Maryland, College Park, late last month.

Racial politics have been a central theme of the contest between Steele and Cardin.

Steele was the first African American elected to a statewide office in Maryland history. Cardin, a 10-term congressman, has worked to tie Steele to President Bush, who has proven to be unpopular with African Americans and many other voters, according to state and national polls.

The Democratic Party’s relationship with African-American voters in Maryland — the party’s largest and most influential voting bloc — has been strained since the 2002 election when gubernatorial nominee, Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, chose a white former Republican as her running mate.

Many African Americans supported former U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume for the Democratic nomination to face Steele. Cardin, who was embraced by many leaders in the Democratic Party, outspent Mfume by a wide margin and won by fewer than 20,000 votes.

Monday’s endorsement — held at Infusions Tea Café in Largo — for Steele was meant to bring to a boil the simmering controversy among African-American leaders from Prince George’s County that the Maryland Democratic Party has taken them for granted.

‘‘We feel ignored and marginalized by the Democratic Party,” said County Councilman David Harrington D-Dist. 5. ‘‘We decided that we needed to stand up and make a statement that we weren’t going to wait any longer.”

Four council colleagues — Samuel H. Dean, D-Dist. 6, Camille Exum, D-Dist. 7, Tony Knotts, D-Dist. 8, and Marilyn Bland, D-Dist. 9 — which represents a majority of the nine-member panel, joined Harrington.

‘‘What you saw today was representatives from all parts of Prince George’s County endorsing my candidacy,” Steele said in an interview Monday between door-knocking sessions in Prince George’s County. ‘‘I’ve been trying to reach across the aisle and these endorsements are an example of that writ large.”

Maryland Democrats are hoping that bringing the charismatic Obama back to Prince George’s County will wake up the county’s increasingly lackadaisical black voters.

Former senator John Edwards of North Carolina, also a potential 2008 presidential candidate and the 2004 Democratic vice presidential candidate, made a campaign stop in Baltimore last week for Cardin and other statewide Democratic candidates.

Obama’s return to Maryland ‘‘reinforces the energy and enthusiasm that’s already here — both for the voters and for the thousands who are working to elect their candidates,” said Derek Walker, executive director of the Maryland Democratic Party. ‘‘It reinforces how incredibly important this election is and how incredibly important Prince George’s County is to our success.”

Edwards’ and Obama’s appearances — and recent visits by former president Bill Clinton, U.S. Sen. Hillary R. Clinton (D-N.Y.) and U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) — indicate how important this election is to the Democratic Party.

‘‘We need Obama ... we need all the help we can get right now,” said Senate Budget and Taxation Chairman Ulysses Currie (D-Dist. 25) of Forestville. ‘‘There is not the energy or enthusiasm we saw four years ago or eight years ago. Hopefully, Sen. Obama will make a difference.”

Some elected officials in Prince George’s — home to a large portion of the Democratic Party’s base of African-American voters — say they are worried about voter apathy. The bitter Democratic primary races for county executive, the 4th Congressional District and several General Assembly districts have worn out voters.

And it’s not clear how much turnout will be driven by the county’s first school board election since 1998.

‘‘This was a very draining primary for the Democratic Party in Prince George’s County,” said Alexander Krughoff, a consultant who was communications director for the campaign of former delegate Rushern L. Baker III (D), who narrowly lost his bid to unseat Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D).

‘‘The inner-party politics really went to war during the primary and it took a lot out of people,” Krughoff said. ‘‘That doesn’t mean voters aren’t going to go show up on Nov. 7 and vote the Democratic Party ticket. It just means that they are tired right now.”

Curry, who has clashed with Democratic Party leaders in the past and was considered a potential running mate for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R), slammed the Democratic Party for its lack of African American representation on the statewide ticket. He said blacks – particularly those from populous Prince George’s County – make up the ‘‘spine” of the Democratic Party yet they are not properly represented in the Democratic Party’s leadership.

‘‘The party acts as though when they want our opinion, they’ll give it to us,” said Curry, who was the first African American elected Prince George’s County executive in 1994 and was re-elected in 1998. ‘‘It’s not going to be like that anymore.”

Curry seemed to dismiss the candidacy of Del. Anthony G. Brown (D-Dist. 25) of Mitchellville, the running mate of the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley. Brown, an Army reservist and majority whip in the House of Delegates, is black.

Some African Americans – including Curry – have said that being a running mate is not enough because they wanted a black candidate for governor, attorney general, comptroller or U.S. Senate.