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A candidate's pledge to forgo campaign contributions from special interests is stirring an old debate over how much, if anything, a campaign contribution buys.

The debate, sparked by a volley of e-mails between a candidate and a lobbyist who says he will take his money elsewhere, has raised questions on pandering, principle and politics.

The exchange between Sam Arora, a candidate for a District 19 delegate seat in Montgomery County, and Mark Feinroth, a lobbyist for the Maryland Association of Realtors, came to light after Arora released the e-mails to the Maryland Politics Watch blog last week.

On July 13, Arora sent a blast e-mail solicitation that included a YouTube video of a candidate forum in Leisure World earlier this month. In the video, Arora pledged not to take campaign contributions from any political action committee or lobbyist registered in Maryland.

"That's too bad," Feinroth wrote in a response that detailed his "deep roots" in Democratic politics, including an unsuccessful run for District 19 delegate in 1994, work with John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, a staff position with former U.S. Rep. Michael D. Barnes and a stint as assistant secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation under Gov. Parris N. Glendening.

"But as strong as my credentials are, I guess you don't want my money," Feinroth wrote.

"I will give it to a better qualified candidate who doesn't feel the need to pander. I wonder how many other lobbyists have received your email," he concluded.

In interviews, both men said they have nothing personal against the other and acknowledged they could be working together should Arora be elected.

Arora is running against five other Democrats in the Sept. 14 primary. Two Republicans also have filed to run.

"Maryland lobbyists are exactly the people who would be seeking access to me were I elected," Arora said. "[Taking their contributions] might either create too cozy of a relationship or the appearance of inappropriate influence."

Feinroth stands by the pandering charge.

"He obviously felt the need to make that announcement, the pledge, in front of a group of voters," Feinroth said.

Laurence Levitan, a former Senate Budget and Taxation Committee chairman turned lobbyist, questioned the wisdom of Arora's pledge.

"You need money to run," said Levitan, a partner with Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver, LLC, the top-earning lobbying firm in Annapolis. If lawmakers feel indebted to someone who makes a $100 contribution, "then they don't deserve to be in elected office," he said.

In the candidate forum video, Arora acknowledged campaign costs, saying, "These races are very expensive" and that he has "had to give back PAC checks that came to me without even asking for it."

Arora reported $67,770 in his campaign account in January. Of the contributions, 93 percent came from individuals, including a $45,000 loan Arora made to his own campaign, and 7 percent came from businesses.

The January filing also includes a $250 contribution from First Colonies Anesthesia Associates LLC PAC in Rockville. Arora said the contribution was unsolicited and he returned it.

While "the vast majority" of legislators are in office for the right reasons, "the whole system can be reformed," said Ryan O'Donnell, executive director of Common Cause Maryland, which named campaign finance reform its No. 1 issue for the 2010 General Assembly.

Efforts in favor of public campaign financing and for disclosure of independent expenditures from corporations and unions advocating for a candidate — a formerly banned practice made legal by the U.S. Supreme Court's Citizens United decision in January — fell short in the legislature.

"If you think that a small donation buys someone someone's vote, you may be too cynical," O'Donnell said.

"But if you think money in politics does not buy access, you are naÔve. Let's be honest, Annapolis is full of lobbyists, full of money, full of fundraisers, and if somebody says this has no effect, they're full of it."

Still, Levitan doubts the no-PACs, no-lobbyist pledge is enough of an issue to sway an election.

"It may be an issue to one person," he said.

If that's the case, Arora said he found that person while going door to door in Rockville last weekend.

Joyce Rosenthal said she talked to Arora about his views on education, abortion, public transit, energy and public campaign financing, which she supports.

Afterward, she said she went online and contributed $20 to Arora's campaign.

Arora's pledge "was one of the factors that made me want to contribute," Rosenthal said. "I'd like to think that people running for office wouldn't be influenced by PAC donations. People who choose not to take PAC donations, it's one less thing that they have to worry about when they're voting."

Levitan said lobbyists are "not buying anything" by contributing to candidates.

"I'm pro-business," he said. "I give to people I think will vote pro-business. You want to see them elected. If not elected, they can't vote."

Feinroth is no longer a District 19 voter — his neighbors across the street in Olney are, while his home is in District 14 — but he said he had planned to contribute $50 to Arora's campaign. He does not expect to give to any District 19 candidates now, but said he has advised family and friends not to vote for Arora.

He's no millionaire "hired gun" lobbyist, he said, and he thinks Arora's view of lobbyists has been colored by Capitol Hill, where Arora was an aide to then-Sen. Hillary R. Clinton.

Unlike Congress, state legislators have small staffs and often are on a first-name basis with lobbyists upon whom they depend for quick and accurate information about legislation, Feinroth said.

"We rely on our reputations for truthfulness and accuracy and timeliness," he said.

"[Arora] probably realizes the similarities between Annapolis and Capitol Hill," Feinroth said. "But he may not realize the differences between Capitol Hill and Annapolis."