Sarbanes-White Race for Cardin's Seat Offers Plenty of Contrasts

Democrat John Sarbanes, center, says that with a famous father, "it's important to present my own credentials." He's flanked by Jen Terrasa, left, Guy Guzzone, James Robey and Neil Turner in Columbia. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)

Democrat John Sarbanes, the earnest eldest son of a Maryland political icon, and maverick Republican entrepreneur John White offer voters dramatically different choices in the race to represent Maryland's 3rd Congressional District.

The position is open for the first time in 20 years as Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) seeks the U.S. Senate seat long held by Paul S. Sarbanes (D), who is retiring after three decades in the Senate.

John Sarbanes, 44, a Towson lawyer and liberal community activist, is running a methodical, well-funded race that has the candidate appearing in televised campaign ads while busily canvassing a district that meanders through portions of Baltimore and Anne Arundel, Howard and Baltimore counties. Fifty-five percent of the district's registered voters are Democrats, though in Anne Arundel and Howard especially, voters have elected Republicans to local and state offices.

"Obviously I came with a name many people recognize," Sarbanes said during a recent appearance at an Anne Arundel senior center, where several in the audience spoke warmly of his father. "I understood at the outset that it's important to present my own credentials before people and my own qualifications."

White's campaign is far less visible, run from an Annapolis coffee shop and funded mainly with his own money. But the conservative White says his unorthodox thinking helped him become a prosperous business owner and philanthropist who, at 36, moves easily in top corporate circles.

"You'll find a whole lot of things unusual about me and find a whole lot of things unusual about my campaign," he said in a coffee shop interview, while his wife and a few staff members worked on laptops at nearby tables. "I've been underestimated often."

Also appearing on the ballot Tuesday is Libertarian candidate Charles C. McPeek, 77, a Laurel truck driver who has repeatedly run for Congress.

Cardin's announcement last year that he would embark on a Senate bid drew a crowded field of Republicans and Democrats for the rare open seat. Sarbanes got into the race later than some of the other seven Democrats but came out on top in the Sept. 12 primary with nearly 32 percent of the vote.

White, one of eight Republican candidates, emerged from the pack to topple the presumed front-runner with about 38 percent of the vote.

Since then, the two men have seen each other at occasional candidate forums but have generally steered clear of confrontational tactics or sharply negative rhetoric. White called it a "model of how campaigns ought to be run," though he's produced a quirky radio ad implying that the Sarbanes camp is "chicken" for ducking his invitation to an Annapolis charity event.

Campaign reports filed last week with the Federal Election Commission show that Sarbanes's steady fundraising has netted $1.3 million. White's total receipts of $383,185 come mainly from the $371,000 he has put into his campaign.

Sarbanes's blue chip credentials duplicate his father's. Both graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School and received prestigious fellowships to study abroad. Both were in private practice before entering politics. The younger Sarbanes has adopted his father's long-standing credo of "fairness and opportunity," even emblazoning the words on his literature. The two are featured in campaign commercials, with John -- tall, slender and dark -- walking alongside his silver-haired father.