Democrats out of step with each other in Prince George’s County

For the first time in years, there will be no unifying sample ballot

Friday, Aug. 11, 2006

ANNAPOLIS — With the primary a month away, the Democratic powerhouses in Prince George’s County are deeply divided from the top to the bottom of the ticket to the bottom.

The Democratic machine — once hailed as the vehicle to preserve incumbents and launch the career of others — is sputtering. The days of Prince George’s Democrats unifying as one team are apparently gone.

This year top party leaders are splintered in the race for U.S. Senate and attorney general — even the county’s register of wills primary contest has caused a rift.

‘‘I’ve never seen us so divided,” said Sen. Ulysses Currie (Dist. 25) of Forestville, a former teacher and a member of the General Assemblyfor two decades. ‘‘It’s like the Wild, Wild West.”

Elections in Prince George’s — a Democratic bastion that is home to Maryland’s influential African-American voting bloc — have always been the political equivalent of a blood sport. But this year they’ve taken that sport to a new level: For the first time in decades there are open and competitive contests for three statewide seats.

The county’s Democratic leaders have different favorites in the statewide races as well as in some General Assembly and local contests. The shifting alliances mean that there is not likely to be a single sample ballot for voters to follow, a county tradition.

Joel D. Rozner, a lobbyist in Annapolis and a Prince George’s insider, said all the splintering will result in a bonanza of sample ballots and campaign literature. ‘‘If I was a tree, I would be scared to death,” he said with a laugh.

Changing the guard?

The unraveling of Democratic unity coincides with a leadership struggle that is seeing the rise of a new set of leaders willing to take on the old guard. U.S. Rep. Albert R. Wynn (Dist. 4) of Mitchellville and Prince George’s County Executive Jack B. Johnson are flexing their muscle and challenging the establishment represented by U.S. Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (Dist. 5) and state Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (Dist. 27). Both men represent large swaths of Prince George’s and play major roles in county politics, but they now live outside the county. Miller lives in Calvert County’s Chesapeake Beach, and Hoyer lives along Patuxent River in St. Mary’s County’s Mechanicsville.

‘‘You have a number of people who want to be king of the hill,” said Bruce C. Bereano, a veteran Annapolis lobbyist and political observer. ‘‘It’s not like the old days. Things are in total disarray.”

One of the county’s young turks, Sen. John A. Giannetti Jr. (Dist. 21) of Laurel agrees. ‘‘The winds of change are blowing in Prince George’s County,” he said. ‘‘You’re seeing the remnants of the old system and the new system not meshing together. It’s been a very tumultuous year.”

Miller admitted that reaching consensus has been difficult this year, but he emphasized that this is no ordinary election year. The retirements of Sens. Gloria G. Lawlah (Dist. 26) of Hillcrest Heights and Leo E. Green (Dist. 23) of Bowie have made it more complicated to bring everyone on board. ‘‘It’s a natural evolution in terms of what happens when people move on ... old alliances are broken up and new people come on the scene with different ideas,” Miller said. ‘‘We have different people at the table. Changing times bring changing alliances.”

One needs to look no further than the primaries for U.S. Senate, which is largely between U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin and former NAACP president Kweisi Mfume, and for attorney general to see the tumult among Prince George’s Democratic leaders.

Johnson has been an early and active supporter of Mfume, a former congressman. Hoyer and Miller are backing Cardin. The racial dynamic of the Cardin-Mfume match-up is a major factor and is frequently discussed among Prince George’s leaders. Johnson and Mfume are black (Wynn has not said whom he’s backing). Hoyer, Miller and Cardin are white. But that division is flipped in the attorney general’s race.

Last week Johnson and Wynn jointly endorsed Montgomery County State’s Attorney Douglas F. Gansler, who is white. Hoyer and Miller have endorsed former Baltimore city prosecutor Stuart O. Simms, who is black. Currie, who also backs Simms, said Wynn and Johnson may have endorsed Gansler to send a message to the state party that it has not done enough to promote a black statewide candidate.

Currie, who is ‘‘leaning” toward Cardin, said his colleagues in the Legislative Black Caucus are energetically supporting Simms, but he acknowledged that Simms’ late entry into the AG fray came only after Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan dropped out of the governor’s race in late June. Simms was Duncan’s running mate.

‘‘I think Albert and Jack were sending a message,” Currie said. (Johnson and Wynn said they committed to Gansler before Simms entered the race.)

Currie and Johnson have been at odds, too: Johnson is backing a candidate for delegate in District 25 who is not on Currie’s slate. ‘‘It’s probably the first time that I can recall that a county executive has done something like this,” Currie said. Currie’s District 25 slate includes incumbents Dereck E. Davis and Melony G. Griffith along with District Heights Mayor James L. Walls. Johnson is backing Aisha N. Braveboy, who works in the Prince George’s County Office of Central Services.

The role of race

There are racial overtones, too, in the race for register of wills, said Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (Dist. 22) of University Park. Incumbent Lynn L. Skerpon, who is white, is being challenged by Cereta A. Lee, who is black. Pinsky, who is white, said many African Americans in the county are backing Lee. ‘‘It offends me that people are choosing to replace [Skerpon] for no justifiable reason,” he said.

But unlike the Senate and attorney general candidates, Del. Peter V.R. Franchot (Dist. 20) of Takoma Park has the backing of almost all of Prince George’s leaders for state comptroller. Miller is backing Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens because he said the Democratic Party needs to have a woman on the statewide ticket.

Franchot, who has been polling behind incumbent Comptroller William Donald Schaefer and Owens, announced Thursday that he has $900,000 on hand. He would not say if he has lent his campaign part of that, but his treasury could be a factor as the primary draws closer. ‘‘I have the money and the message to be competitive ... that’s why so many elected leaders in Prince George’s have endorsed me,” he said.