Maryland's Major-Race Candidates Focus on African American Vote
Irvin Skinner speaks to Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and running mate Kristin Cox in Baltimore.
(By Susan Biddle -- The Washington Post)
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Candidates in Maryland's two marquee races aimed their appeals yesterday largely at African American voters, a heavily courted constituency whose turnout could determine the contests for governor and U.S. Senate.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. sought to spotlight crime in the city of his Democratic challenger, while Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley called the Republican incumbent "a fraud" on the issue of minority contracting.
In the Senate race, Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin appeared in Prince George's, the majority-black home county of his Republican opponent, while Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele talked with college students about growing up as a black man.
Ehrlich spoke yesterday afternoon at the Park Heights Barbershop in a Baltimore neighborhood burdened by drugs and prostitution problems. The governor was there to contrast his record on crime with that of O'Malley, but attention shifted when some residents spoke of a rumor rampant in the neighborhood that a serial killer has been slashing women's throats.
Ehrlich listened to the residents complain that they have not been able to get satisfactory answers from the police, who say there is no evidence to support the rumors. The governor said the lack of responsiveness suggests O'Malley has "a credibility problem" in the neighborhood.
"He's got a problem here," Ehrlich said. "The allegation is either a rumor unfounded, or it's the truth. . . . I don't know the answer."
Ehrlich said he would direct lawyers in his office to look into the matter and report to the residents.
"So now he's trying to scare people with rumors?" asked O'Malley spokesman Steve Kearney . "If he wasn't shameless, he'd be embarrassed. I don't know if he's acting this way because he's losing with a week left or just because it's Halloween."
Kearney pointed out that Maryland's chief medical examiner -- who works for the state, not the city -- recently said no slayings of female victims had been recorded in that section of the city since Aug. 1.
Shena Ray, a barber in the shop Ehrlich visited, said she was grateful for the governor's involvement. "We just want to know what's happening," she said.
Earlier in the day, O'Malley took Ehrlich to task for his record on state contracting opportunities for minority-owned businesses, which Ehrlich has promoted as a success during the past four years.
O'Malley convened a breakfast that drew about 150 minority and female business owners to a hotel near Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Featured guests also included D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D).
