A Scramble to Replace the Old Guard

Rare Open Seats And a Big Field Are Producing A Robust Election

With two lions of Maryland politics leaving office this year and a third threatened, this fall's election could usher in a new generation of officeholders who could dominate state politics for decades to come.

U.S. Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D) and Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D) are stepping down after decades in their posts, and another fixture, Comptroller William Donald Schaefer (D), is in a tough battle for reelection with two members of his party.

The upshot is an election year unlike any in recent decades, with several candidates running for each seat and millions of dollars being spent. The Sept. 12 primaries will go a long way toward shaping the story line for the November general election.

Only one marquee race lacks primary-day drama. For the first time in years, there are no intraparty contests for governor.

Incumbent Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. is the only candidate for the Republican nomination, and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley became the Democrats' presumptive nominee when Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan dropped out in June, citing clinical depression.

O'Malley and Ehrlich have been in general-election mode ever since, airing television ads in the large Baltimore media market and trading barbs over each other's records. Two other candidates, Ed Boyd of the Green Party and Christopher Driscoll of the Populist Party, also will compete in the general election.

Schaefer, a former Maryland governor, appears to be in one of the tougher fights of his 50-year run in public service.

Polls show Schaefer, whose storied career includes four terms as Baltimore's mayor, ahead in the comptroller's race but vulnerable. The antics and curmudgeonly demeanor of the 84-year-old pol, once seen as endearing, seem to have worn thin with many voters. His behavior, rather than the arcane duties of his office, has become the focal point of a spirited race.

Two credible Democrats have stepped forward to challenge Schaefer: Del. Peter Franchot (Montgomery) and Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens. Franchot is portraying Schaefer as too cozy with Ehrlich, and Owens's slogan is hardly subtle: "It's Time."

Some analysts say that Schaefer's having two opponents, and not one, may enable him to capture the nomination.

Four Republicans -- Stephen N. Abrams, Anne M. McCarthy, Mark M. Spradley and Gene Zarwell -- are seeking their party's nod. The Green Party has nominated Bob Auerbach.

The retirement of Sarbanes, 73, has set off a scramble to fill Maryland's first open Senate seat in two decades, drawing 29 candidates, most of whom have no chance of prevailing. The field will be winnowed considerably on primary day.