By Kenneth C. Rossignol

ST. MARY’S TODAY

LEXINGTON PARK --- Fresh from his largest victory ever since taking a seat in the United States House of Representatives in a special election to replace the late Gladys Noon Spellman, Congressman Steny Hoyer said last week that the suggestion that he consider running for Governor is two years deserves a look.

"It’s a little late in my career to think about that, but it’s an interesting question and worth a look," Hoyer told ST. MARY’S TODAY in a post election interview.

Hoyer ran for Governor in 1978 when he was President of the Maryland Senate, having been a state senator since 1966, representing Prince George’s County.

As that campaign progressed, he joined Acting Governor Blair Lee III as Lee’s running mate but the pair lost the Democratic Primary to former state senator Harry Hughes. Hughes went on to be elected Governor for two terms.

Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich is the first Republican Governor of Maryland since Spiro Agnew, who was elected over Democrat George P. Mahoney in 1966. Agnew went on to become vice-president in 1968 with President Richard Nixon and then resigned in disgrace in 1973 after it was revealed he had been on the take from highway contractors since he was governor.

Ehrlich has become embroiled in a new land deal with a contractor designed to be the beneficiary of a secret back room negotiation involving an attempt by St. Mary’s Commissioner President Tommy McKay (R. Hollywood). After numerous newspaper articles in recent weeks and questioning of the land deal, Ehrlich is attempting to distance himself from McKay’s proposal which was intended to allow a contractor have land at the same price for which the state paid for the property.

Located next to the St. Mary’s State Park, a watershed with lakes intended to lessen flooding in Great Mills, the area is in a rural zone and has no infrastructure.

McKay and Boyd K. Rutherford, the Secretary of General Services, have defended the secret deal, saying that the contractor who would get the sweetheart deal on the large parcel of land, would then turn around and donate a parcel for a school site. But Rutherford admitted that there was no signed deal and could be so as not to endanger the tax advantages for the contractor, who is an executive with Whiting Turner Construction, one of the largest contractors in Maryland.

With Ehrlich running hard to get away from the St. Mary’s land deal engineered by McKay, who himself seems to be caught up in the tar-babyish snafu, Hoyer would join Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley and Montgomery County Executive Douglas Duncan as contenders for the Democratic nomination in 2006.

As Minority Whip in the House, Hoyer enjoys the work and challenge of being in the Democratic leadership, a position he has been holding for the last three years and a change in the balance of power in the House could suddenly make Hoyer Majority Leader and even Speaker of the House.

But the frustration of seeing the Republicans successfully defending their hold on the House gained in 1994, could make Hoyer desire to work with the large Democratic majority in the Maryland General Assembly.

Being an elected official representing PG County since 1966 and representing all of Southern Maryland since 1993, Hoyer could enter a Democratic Primary contest with strong support in his base and is far better known statewide than O’Malley or Duncan.

Hoyer is strongly supported by veterans, federal and state employees, teachers and labor unions as well as small businesses, making him a tough contender in his own party as well as an odds on favorite to defeat Ehrlich.

Faced with Hoyer’s entry into the race, it is likely Duncan would simply seek re-election, caving in to his own desires in the face of tough competitor the same way he did in 2002. O’Malley is young enough to stay as mayor and Ehrlich might want to seek the security of an U. S. Senate seat and instead of fighting Hoyer simply take on the elderly Paul Sarbanes.