Why voters get turned off

Friday, Aug. 4, 2006

Competition is supposed to be the essential ingredient that makes our participatory form of government work so well. Yet in Maryland, there’s been a sharp decline in competitive state elections.

Neither Democratic nor Republican leaders want to see competitive races on primary election day. In fact, they would love to return to the time when bosses met in that proverbial smoke-filled room (there really was such a thing) and picked the party’s candidates without asking voters first.

For Republican leaders, competition in GOP primaries is viewed as a waste of precious resources and a waste of their few quality candidates. Party leaders have a devil of a time just finding halfway-decent Republicans willing to run for office. Competitive primaries would make matters worse.

In too many key jurisdictions — Prince George’s County, Baltimore city and, increasingly, Montgomery County — Republicans are nearly invisible. With rare exceptions, GOP candidates tend to be tokens recruited to fill space on the Republican ballot line.

A truly competitive GOP primary is a rarity. There’s only one in the state’s 47 senatorial districts. That’s in northern Anne Arundel County’s District 31, where Democratic Sen. Phil Jimeno is retiring. Since this district leans Republican, there’s considerable interest in winning the GOP Senate nomination. Five candidates have filed, including former county councilman, Dutch Holland.

Democratic leaders also are loath to encourage competitive primaries. The majority party’s incumbents hate the thought of having to wage a tough primary campaign, even if the opposition is marginal. What every incumbent seeks is an uncontested primary and an uncontested general election. Six got their wish this year.

That’s what Sen. George W. Della wanted, too. According to The Baltimore Sun, he threatened candidates who filed against him in his south Baltimore district to force them out of the race. He even allegedly threatened one of the candidate’s employers. Not that this competition matters: Della is a shoo-in for another term (his seventh four-year term).

He claimed a primary or general election challenge would divert him from delivering votes and financial support to Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley’s gubernatorial bid. This excuse rings hollow: He can more easily raise funds and energize his supporters for O’Malley if they know Della’s race is in play, too. Otherwise, many of them will sit on their hands.

Della’s attempt to squeeze out opponents is typical. Too many lawmakers have come to regard elective office as a permanent possession. Eliminating all competition is the best way to keep your job without breaking a sweat.

Senate President Mike Miller doesn’t like competition, either. He’s angry because Gov. Bob Ehrlich persuaded a Republican with the same last name to file against the Senate president. Of course, Mike Miller will defeat Bob Miller by a gazillion votes. Still, the thought of engaging in a real campaign seems to strike Mike — not Bob — as a royal pain. It’s hardly the way Mike — not Bob — wants to spend his summer and fall.

The Senate president isn’t a fan of hotly contested preliminary races. He wants his chosen candidates to glide unscathed through the party’s voting process. So he tried to pressure Anne Arundel County Executive Janet Owens out of the comptroller’s race and he pushed hard to get Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan out of the governor’s race.

(He — and other party leaders — also strong-armed Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley out of the 2002 governor’s race to avoid a tough primary for Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend. That turned out to be a whopper of a mistake.)

It’s no accident the Senate president was instrumental in creating legislative districts that discourage competitive elections. He helped carve up the districts in ways that assure the greatest number of non-competitive races. Republicans are packed heavily into the fewest number of districts possible. That means easy re-election for nearly all the Democratic incumbents.

As a result, there are just seven competitive primaries among the state’s 47 senatorial districts. And five of those are in districts where the incumbent is not seeking re-election and a horse race can’t be avoided.

In just two of the remaining 42 senatorial districts are there contests in which the incumbent faces a difficult six weeks — Sen. Ida Ruben versus Jamie Raskin in Montgomery County and Sen. John Giannetti versus Jim Rosapepe in Prince George’s County.

Most incumbents will coast through the Sept. 12 election, and many will do the same in November. By design, voters are pretty much shut out. Members of ‘‘Club Senate” have created a system in which only a handful of them are threatened with a loss of their exclusive admission card.

Lack of hotly contested primary races hurts both parties. It sharply limits voter choice. It discourages turnout. It hurts party-building. It makes it tough to recruit volunteers. It robs the electoral process of a crucial element – options.

Incumbents who are challenged in the party primary are forced to sharpen their positions on issues. They are forced to respond to voter complaints. They have to work hard to gain their party’s nomination. In the end, they emerge fit and battle-tested for the general election.

Yet this year, we are in a situation where too many incumbent senators need not worry about waging a summer campaign. They can work on their tans in Ocean City, if they wish, because their re-elections are all but assured. That’s not healthy for our electoral system. When there’s little or no choice, frustrated voters get turned off. Who can blame them?

Barry Rascovar is a communications consultant in the Baltimore area. His Wednesday morning commentaries can be heard on WYPR, 88.1 FM. His e-mail is brascovar@hotmail.com.