Indications For Duncan Look Good -- at Home

When Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley (D) traveled to Rockville last week to announce that he's running for governor, there weren't many elected officials in the audience. Rockville Mayor Larry Giammo , a registered independent, was in the crowd, but most of the county's Democratic establishment was nowhere to be found.

That's good news for County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D), who is expected to announce his own candidacy for governor in a few weeks.

If Duncan is to beat O'Malley, the conventional wisdom goes, he needs an impenetrable base of support in Montgomery.

In recent months, Duncan has been calling a host of county Democratic leaders -- council members, state legislators, party activists -- all but demanding that they stand next to him when he makes his announcement.

Four years ago, Duncan's dreams of challenging then-Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Tow nsend (D) for the Democratic nomination were dashed when he realized that many county Democratic leaders were already in Townsend's camp.

This time, most Montgomery Democrats are supporting Duncan, but there is a noticeable divide on the County Council.

Although no Democratic council member has publicly endorsed O'Malley, three are neutral, which says a lot about their relationship with the county executive.

And, perhaps not surprisingly, the split on the council has its roots in the 2002 election.

The five council members backing Duncan -- at-large members Steven A. Silverma n , Nancy Floreen , George L. Leventhal and Michael L. Subin and district member Michael Knapp (Upcounty) -- were all members of his End Gridlock slate in 2002.

Duncan spent several hundred thousand dollars to help elect the slate, whose members all support the proposed intercounty connector highway.

The three Democratic council members who oppose the project-- Council President Tom Pere z (Silver Spring) and district members Phil Andrews (Gaithersburg) and Marilyn Praisner (Eastern County) -- are neutral in the 2006 race.

Since the 2002 vote, those three have generally advocated a more restrained policy on growth and development than the positions taken by Duncan and the End Gridlock team.