By John Wagner
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
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).
O'Malley zeroed in on the percentage of state procurement dollars going to black-owned firms, which he put at 3.4 percent.
"If you were really committed, you could do 3.4 percent in 10 blocks of Mitchellville," O'Malley said, referring to an upscale section of Prince George's County.
The figure cited by O'Malley came from a study this year commissioned by the state that examined fiscal 2000 through 2004. More recent data compiled by the Ehrlich administration put the figure for African American firms at 4 percent in fiscal 2005, down slightly from the year before.
Ehrlich spokeswoman Shareese DeLeaver said the governor has focused more attention on the issue than his Democratic predecessors and is "making real strides."
O'Malley also stopped yesterday in Rockville, where he was joined by Rep. Chris Van Hollen and other Democratic officials seeking to make the case that O'Malley would be better for the environment than Ehrlich.
In the Senate race, Cardin rolled onto his opponent's home turf yesterday to talk about his support for a universal health care system. His stop in Prince George's came one day after Steele announced endorsements from five Democratic County Council members and from Wayne K. Curry , the county's first black county executive, who also is a Democrat.
In remarks at the Prince George's Hospital Center in Cheverly, Cardin thanked County Executive Jack B. Johnson (D) and the Prince George's legislative delegation, although no delegates were in attendance yesterday. Cardin plans to spend time in the county every day this week.
"I feel very confident that we'll do extremely well here," said Cardin, who finished a distant second in Prince George's to former NAACP president Kweisi Mfume in the September primary.
The Cardin campaign also released a series of radio ads yesterday featuring prominent black Democrats, including Rep. Albert R. Wynn and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings .
During a speech to a government class at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Steele talked about how his father suffered from alcoholism and was abusive toward his mother. He said his mother worked for minimum wage after his father died so she could pay for his schooling.
"The only limits you have are ones you place on yourself," Steele told the standing-room-only crowd. "The power of turning hope into action, it is my story. It is your story. Do not lose sight of why you are here. Some of you are the first in your family to [go to] college, just as I was in mine."
Steele also discussed the discrimination he faced trying to find a job as young black man.
Staff writers Ovetta Wiggins and Ann E. Marimow contributed to this report.
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