Sal Gentile, The Examiner
2007-08-02 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

BALTIMORE -

Some political anomalies — as well as widespread voter dissatisfaction with the city’s current leaders — have attracted a frenzy of rivals both old and new in the Baltimore City Council race.

Although most council seats are safely held by incumbents, several seats are up for grabs.

In two of the districts, the 11th and the 4th, the incumbents are running for higher office, leaving their current seats vacant and attracting staggeringly crowded fields of nine candidates each. In two others, the 6th and the 13th, the incumbents are appointees of the council itself and have never faced voter scrutiny.

In the 4th District, outgoing Councilman Kenneth Harris Sr., who is running for City Council president, has left behind a melee of sparring would-be successors. Of the nine Democrats vying for his seat in the Sept. 11 primary — which is all that matters in heavily Democratic Baltimore — three candidates have run before, and six are newcomers looking to upset the establishment field.

Bill Henry, one of those 4th District veterans, managed to capture 25 percent of the vote in 2003, a sizable chunk of the electorate considering that Harris, a strong incumbent, was in the race. Now that Harris is gone, Henry acknowledges that he’s become the front-runner and is beginning to act like it.

“I definitely agree that there’s that perception,” he said, now more polished and with a more professional operation than four years ago. “My campaign is going to be judged by the standards that you would normally use to judge an incumbent.”

But Henry might be alone in embracing that image. This year’s council election is, for the most part, a bustling field of anti-establishment candidates, running on grassroots messages and keeping the stigma of the political status quo at arm’s length.

And there is perhaps no better example of that than the 10th District race.

Challengers have flocked to that contest largely because of the perceived electoral weakness of the incumbent, Councilman Edward Reisinger, who also must contend with a volatile political environment that has left many voters angry, fearful and clamoring for change.

In 2003, Reisinger retained his seat by edging out primary opponent Nicole Pastore-Klein by just 124 votes, an uncomfortably slim margin that has only encouraged his challengers.

Reisinger’s fiercest opponents are painting him as out of touch with the community, a lackluster politician who has grown too comfortable with incumbency and done a better job of politicking than leading.

“I think this is a true picture of business as usual and the new way through,” said Terry Hickey, a community lawyer and one of Reisinger’s more organized opponents. “I think the years of incumbency in my district have deadened people to what actually can be done.”

Reisinger, who boasts a wall lined with plaques given to him by community associations, called it disingenuous to suggest that he was out of touch with his constituents. He said his opponents are just political opportunists who have gotten involved in the district only now that they are running for office.

“In the last four years, I’ve been in the trenches,” he said. “None of these guys have been in the foxhole with me.”

Still, Reisinger will have to dig into those trenches for the next month and a half to win re-election — and his opponents will continue to rail against incumbents and “business as usual” at City Hall.

“The incumbency factor around here leaves them all feeling untouchable,” Hickey said of the council. “The basic truth of it is, somewhere along the way we started electing politicians and stopped electing leaders.”

RACES TO WATCH

District 4

Neighborhoods: Mid-Govans, Homeland, Bellona-Gittings

Incumbent: Kenneth Harris Sr.

Why: Harris is vacating his seat to run for City Council president, and nine people are running to replace him. The front-runner, Bill Henry, ran in 2003 and garnered 25 percent of the vote.

District 6

Neighborhoods: Pimlico, Roland Park, Cross Keys

Incumbent: Sharon Green Middleton

Why: Middleton was appointed in February to replace Stephanie Rawlings-Blake when she became City Council president. Middleton’s challengers believe they can beat her because she has never been elected or faced voter scrutiny.

District 10

Neighborhoods: Federal Hill, Locust Point, Brooklyn, Cherry Hill

Incumbent: Edward Reisinger

Why: After redistricting created 14 single-member districts in 2003, Reisinger was re-elected in the primary — winning by just 124 votes. His opponents believe he is weak because of his slim margin of victory four years ago, but Reisinger attributes the close call simply to the change in district.

District 11

Neighborhoods: Downtown, Reservoir Hill, Bolton Hill, Federal Hill

Incumbent: Keiffer Mitchell Jr.

Why: Mitchell is vacating his seat to run for mayor, and nine people are running to replace him. Though some candidates are stronger than others, there are no clear front-runners in this race.

District: 13

Neighborhoods: McElderry Park, Berea, Ellwood Park/Monument

Incumbent: Vernon Crider

Why: Crider was appointed by the council to replace Paula Johnson Branch, who retired this year, and may be weak because he is unfamiliar to many district voters.

sgentile@baltimoreexaminer.com