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Decades of Service May End With Primary
Campaign volunteer Dorothy Boyd helps Peter Franchot celebrate his victory. "I'm humbled at the fact that I defeated William Donald Schaefer," he said.
(By Matt Houston -- Associated Press)
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"I'm humbled at the fact that I defeated William Donald Schaefer," Franchot said. "I salute him. He is a Maryland legend and will remain a Maryland legend."
Schaefer was gracious toward Franchot, mostly. "He ran a good race and I wish him luck," Schaefer said. "If you're not the best man, you don't win."
Owens conceded the race yesterday afternoon in Annapolis in front of supporters and the media. "It was a great race and a heartbreaker," she said. Owens added that she will support Franchot in the November election against Anne M. McCarthy, a former dean of the University of Baltimore business school who captured the Republican nomination against three rivals.
Schaefer met privately yesterday morning with staff members at the comptroller office. They had cake, coffee and tea, and one person was moved to sing "God Bless America."
Then, the 84-year-old comptroller ambled down the hallway to a room packed with television cameras.
What ensued was quintessential Schaefer. He spoke, half-jokingly perhaps, about running for mayor of Ocean City. He complained that certain reporters "make me puke," reflected longingly on his favorite job -- as mayor of Baltimore -- and lamented the way his five-decade career would come abruptly to a close.
It was as Baltimore's mayor that Schaefer left his most indelible mark. Elected to the job in 1971, his credo was "Do it now," and he molded the city government in his image.
"The job of a person in public life is to do one thing: Help people," Schaefer said yesterday. "Public service . . . nothing's like it."
He was credited with overseeing an urban revival that included the creation of Harborplace on the decrepit waterfront. "When it came to bricks and mortar, he was unbeatable," Crenson said.
Schaefer's two terms as governor, by his own admission, were less successful. His authoritative style sparked regular squabbles with the General Assembly, leading to standoffs and a drop in his popularity.
After term limits forced him to leave office in 1995, Schaefer stepped back into the public arena in 1998 when his friend, longtime Maryland Comptroller Louis L. Goldstein, died. Schaefer's stewardship of the office, an arcane but powerful position with a voice in the awarding of state contracts, won generally high marks, but his occasionally bizarre comments drew increasing public reprobation.
Throughout yesterday's 35-minute news conference, Schaefer mixed morose reflection on this, his first campaign loss since 1955, with defiance toward the news media and his two Democratic opponents. He called Franchot "strange."
