By Justin Palk
Capital News Service
Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002

COLLEGE PARK - The 6th District has changed since the 2000 election,
but the candidates have not.

Rep. Roscoe Bartlett, R-Frederick, and Democratic challenger Donald M.
DeArmon appear headed for a rematch of their 2000 congressional contest
in which Bartlett won a convincing election to a fifth term.

DeArmon said this year's redistricting represents an opportunity for his campaign, as Bartlett has no incumbent advantage in the new sections of the Western Maryland district. Howard County has been moved out of the 6th and into the 7th District, while the 6th has acquired the northern parts of Baltimore and Harford counties.

Bartlett said he thinks the advantage is still his.

"They said they'd put every conservative in the state into my district if they could," Bartlett said. "Don DeArmon needs to check with the Democrats who did the redistricting."

Larry Harris, of Mason-Dixon Polling and Research Inc., agreed with
Bartlett and said the 6th District was meant to be safe for the incumbent.

"It's a safe seat," he said, "They designed it such, so they could go
after (8th District Republican Rep.) Connie Morella. There was a long-term
strategy involved."

But DeArmon is confident his third bid for Congress will be the charm,
and said he is aggressively raising money toward that end.

According to the latest Federal Election Commission filings DeArmon
had raised $28,357.50 as of June 30 and had $20,058.17 available at that
time.

Bartlett reported raising $115,412.39, and had $213,127.73 on hand as
of June 30. Bartlett's lead is largely due to his having about $170,000
left in his account from previous campaigns, according to the FEC.

This is DeArmon's third bid for Congress. He lost the 1994 Democratic
primary and won the party's nomination two years ago, only to lose to
Bartlett in the general election, 61 percent to 39 percent. In that race,
DeArmon raised nearly $300,000 to Bartlett's $231,000, according to FEC
reports.

DeArmon said he's behind right now because of the late primary and
because the July numbers do not show his campaign ramping up.

"I fully expect to raise that much and more this time," he said.

Bartlett said he's taking DeArmon's challenge seriously, but his
campaign isn't aggressively raising funds at this point.

Bartlett said he isn't sure how much of an effect money will have on
the race. He noted that, despite DeArmon's financial strength in 2000, he
still only received 2 percentage points more of the vote than Timothy D.
McCown did in 1998, and McCown spent less than $5,000.

"I'm always distressed that the only thing people are concerned about
is money," he said. "There has to be another yardstick."

One other Democrat, Kevin M. Shaffer of LaVale, said he had not yet
raised the minimum $5,000 in donations that would require him to file a
campaign finance report with the FEC.

Copyright © 2002 University of Maryland College of Journalism