By Phillip Caston and John O'Connor
Capital News Service
Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2002

ANNAPOLIS - Tuesday's primary election, plus attrition, mean more than
20 percent of both General Assembly chambers, including key committee
chairmen, will be new in January.

November's general election could mean even more of a drain on legislative
leadership.

Defeated in Senate primary elections were incumbent Sens. Barbara Hoffman, D-Baltimore, Tim Ferguson, R-Carroll, and Arthur Dorman, D-Prince George's.

Sen. Christopher Van Hollen Jr., D-Montgomery, successfully challenged for a seat in Congress, while Clarence Blount, D-Baltimore, and Thomas Bromwell, D-Baltimore County, retired.

A minimum of nine new Senators will take office in the next legislative session.

In the House, 22 Democratic incumbents won't be back, including Majority
Whip Sue Hecht of Frederick County, who won the party's nomination for
state Senate Tuesday. Other key losses included Delegate Mark K. Shriver of Montgomery County, who lost his congressional bid to Van Hollen, and Delegate Verna Jones of Baltimore, who won the Democratic nomination for a state Senate seat.

Only 10 seats changed hands for House Republicans, including Minority
Whip James Ports Jr., who won his primary Tuesday for Baltimore County
Council, and Delegate David Brinkley, who defeated Ferguson in District 4, which includes Carroll and Frederick counties.

The large turnover, said Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-
Calvert, is not unprecedented and makes for a better Senate. In 1994, he
said, about one-third of all districts had new senators.

Maryland's Democratic dominance in the Legislature is likely to remain
even after the general election, and Miller, the state's longest-serving
Senate president, is likely to retain his office.

"It's changes galore," said Miller. "We're going to look at who has earned
the right to be in the front row. ... It's nothing the Senate hasn't encountered before and dealt with."

Miller's "front row" is composed of the powerful committee chairmen who
sit at the front of the Senate, just below the dais. Among the Senate
losses were the chairmen of three of the four standing committees -- Budget and
Taxation, Finance and Education, and Health and Environmental Affairs --
as well as the vice chairmen for two of those three committees.

Miller said he would consult with county executives and others before
making his leadership decisions, which would consider the state's diversity.

The House leadership drain is minimal. Only Kenneth Montague Jr.'s, D-Baltimore, joint committee vice chairmanship is open.

Miller said Hoffman, the budget chairwoman, was a loss, but there are
others who can lead in the Senate.

"We've lost a couple of key people ... but there's always somebody with
talents that have been hidden," he said.

State Republicans saw the primary as a defeat for the current Senate leadership.

"It was not great news for Mike Miller last night," said Louis Pope, vice
chairman for the state Republican Party. "I do believe you'll see some significant changes in the Senate."

There are few with the influence in the Senate to challenge Miller's presidency, however, said American University history professor Allan J. Lichtman.

"Obviously you're going to have a major change in the leadership," he said. "Power is going to move and the question is where the power will shift from. With Bromwell out, Hoffman out, I don't see any challenge to his (Miller's) leadership."

Pope predicted the Republicans, in the "biggest turnover in 20 years," could gain three to five districts in the Senate and eight to 12 seats in the House in November's general election.

David Paulson, Maryland Democratic Party spokesman, said Democrats
should maintain or slightly improve their majorities in both houses. Most
Democratic losses, he said, would be filled by other Democrats.
 

Copyright © 2002 University of Maryland College of Journalism