Spotlight Is On Calvert's Hard-Run House Race
Kullen-Hale Contest Seen as Key by GOP

By William Wan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, September 24, 2006

Since her appointment two years ago to fill a vacancy in the House of Delegates, Democrat Sue Kullen says she has felt like a marked woman.

Republicans eager to narrow the Democratic majority in the legislature set their sights on her northern Calvert County seat early on, forcing her into a constant campaigning mode.

Meanwhile, her opponent, Calvert Commissioners President David F. Hale (R-Owings), has assembled an impressive campaign drawing on his strong name recognition after two terms on the Board of County Commissioners, most of that time as its leader. Since the Sept. 12 primary, Hale has begun his election effort in earnest, preparing television commercials, sending out mailings and placing ads in newspapers.

The result, leaders from both political parties say, will be one of the hardest-fought, most-watched and possibly closest races on Maryland's Nov. 7 ballot.

One reason the seat is important is that it is the only legislative district entirely within the bounds of Calvert County. And in the context of statewide party strategy, it is among the three or four seats held by Democrats who Republicans believe are vulnerable. If Republicans gain a few seats in November's voting, party leaders say, they could weaken the Democrats' hold on the General Assembly.

But though such statewide implications surround the race, Hale emphasized that he has run the campaign on his own terms.

"I appreciate that everyone will be reading the articles and watching poll results, but being fully funded, I don't need any state money or any state machine backing me," he said. "I'm running on what I've done as a commissioner and what I think I can bring to the job."

Hale's greatest advantage is his name recognition. As president of the Calvert commissioners, he has led televised board meetings for several years and been at the center of the county's most pressing issues.

"As president of the commissioners, your name's out there week after week," said Hagner Mister, a past commissioners president and former state agriculture secretary who considered running for the seat.

Mister, a Democrat, said Kullen's edge is the advantage of incumbency.

"She knows her way around Annapolis, and being the current delegate, that's always an advantage," he said. "What it comes down to is getting the vote out on Election Day. Getting people to the polls -- that's what's going to decide this."

Kullen was appointed to the seat in 2004 after Ehrlich chose former delegate George W. Owings III (D) to run the state Department of Veterans Affairs.

Kullen, the first woman to represent Calvert in the General Assembly, had never served in or run for public office. She emerged as the surprise, compromise candidate for the appointment after members of the county's Democratic Central Committee deadlocked on candidates with more political experience, such as Mister, former county commissioner Barbara A. Stinnett and Thomas M. Pelagatti, a former judge of the county Orphans' Court.

Owings had been reelected without opposition in 2002, and Democrats had wanted his replacement to be a strong candidate.

"I knew with only two years [before the next election], I had to hit the ground running," Kullen said. "I had to be productive and prove to folks back home that I could do it."

Kullen, 46, of Port Republic, has lived in Calvert since 1982 and works as a consultant with disabled people and agencies serving them.

Pointing to the passage of 16 of the 18 bills she sponsored in the past year, she said she has worked almost nonstop while the General Assembly is in session. She served on the health and government operations committee, as vice chairman of the Southern Maryland delegation and on the board of the women's caucus.

She said her main focus, if reelected, will be on education and the environment. One of her bills that won approval was a measure to reduce nitrogen and phosphorus in the Patuxent River, but legislators tacked on major amendments, limiting some of its significant enforcement provisions.

"I was pleased with how hard we worked for that bill even though it was amended to the point that we couldn't accomplish [everything] we wanted," she said. "And next session, we're going to go back and build an even bigger coalition to get a stronger version passed."

Kullen declined to disclose her fundraising goal or her campaign strategy, other than to describe it as a grass-roots effort. "We're knocking on doors, going to community events," she said. "It's very effective but takes a lot of time."

Hale, meanwhile, said he plans to hold one more fundraiser Tuesday and will reach his goal of collecting $100,000. He has bought airtime for TV commercials and advertisements in every edition of the three local papers until Election Day.

Mostly, though, he is counting on people voting for him on the basis of what he has done as a commissioner, he said.

Hale, 42, of Owings, has lived in Calvert since 1991. He was born and raised in Washington state. He and his wife moved to Calvert to be near her family.

"I was shocked at how nice people were and how rural the county looked for being just a few miles from D.C.," he said.

When he first ran for commissioner in 1998, one of his major campaign promises was to preserve that rural nature by managing growth.

"He's kept that promise," said Robert W. Reed, a county Republican Central Committee member. "He's kept Calvert a rural county and kept us financially on an even keel."

During his two terms, Hale noted, the county has turned a shortfall of $2.5 million in fiscal 1999 to a surplus of $3 million in fiscal 2006.

As a delegate, he said, "I'd like to bring the Maryland legislature closer to the moderate position. I see things like the Wal-Mart [health insurance] bill and [utility] deregulation that just don't make sense.

"Now, one person can't make all the difference; I'm not naive," he added, "but going to the legislature, I would try to bring it a little closer to what the citizens want."

His main focus would be on the environment, education and creating a strong economy, he said.

"We especially have to keep the state from passing down unfunded mandates," he said, referring to state laws that require local governments to take actions without state financial support.

District 27B, which Hale and Kullen hope to represent, is split between the parties, with 10,442 registered Democrats, 9,598 Republicans and 4,115 independents, according to election officials.

Turnout and independents will be keys, Hale and Kullen agreed.

"It's going to be close," Mister said. "When you add everything up, all their advantages and disadvantages, it could be really, really close."