Ehrlich, Cardin Criticized Over People Appearing in Their Ads
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The narrator of a new television ad for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. (R) who complains of problems with crime in Baltimore is coming under scrutiny for his own criminal history.
Larry Gaines , who is identified as a "parent advocate" in the ad, says Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley , Ehrlich's Democratic challenger, "has failed our children" and cites problems with drugs and gangs in the city.
Left unmentioned, according to a report last week in the Baltimore Sun, is that Gaines is a former drug addict who was convicted of a theft charge that earned him a three-year prison sentence in the 1990s. Last year, one of Gaines's sons was arrested in connection with the stabbing of another youth in the chest during a pickup basketball game, the Sun reported.
Ehrlich spokeswoman Shareese DeLeaver said the revelations have not deterred the campaign from airing the ad in the Washington and Baltimore markets.
"Quite the contrary," DeLeaver said. "Given his history, he speaks with a voice of authority on the problems of Baltimore City. The point of these ads is to have real people talking about Baltimore City."
O'Malley spokesman Steve Kearney said that "putting a convicted felon in a crime ad" was evidence of a campaign with serious problems. "You wonder if they're going to have enough sense to take it down."
The ads are also drawing protest from Baltimore community leaders.
In a letter, Jack Baker and Melissa Techentin , presidents of two Baltimore police-community relations councils, asked the governor to stop airing the ad.
"Mr. Gaines can't speak to what it takes to make Baltimore or Maryland safer," they wrote. "It seems he actually may contribute to its problems. . . . We only ask that you act responsibly."
Others in Baltimore have come to Gaines's defense.
During a radio interview yesterday morning on WBAL (1090 AM), Baltimore City Council member Kenneth N. Harris Sr. (D) said he knows Gaines and considers him "a respectable guy."
"He's gotten his life back in the right direction," Harris said.
