District 20 race begins to heat up

Candidates set sights on open House seat

Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006
by Meredith Hooker
Staff Writer

For more information To learn more about the upcoming elections, including who has filed for candidacy and how to register to vote, go to www.elections.state.md.us. Five-term Del. Peter V.R. Franchot (D-Dist. 20) of Takoma Park is leaving his post in the House to run for state comptroller against incumbent William Donald Schaefer (D) in the Sept. 12 primary. Two hopefuls from Takoma Park eyeing a seat in the House have already filed, and others say they intend to run.

In 2002, eight Democrats ran for three seats in the House primary; incumbents Sheila E. Hixson of Silver Spring and Franchot won, and Hixson and Franchot went on to victory in the general election. In the primary, longtime incumbent Dana L. Dembrow finished behind Silver Spring's Gareth E. Murray, who went on to win office in the general election in the heavily Democratic district, which includes Takoma Park and Silver Spring neighborhoods along the Route 29 corridor.

An outpouring of candidates like this year's is only typical when there's a vacancy, said political observer Blair Lee, also a columnist for The Gazette.

"It's tough to run against an incumbent," Lee said. "Everything is programmed toward re-election."

Incumbents, he said, essentially have access to free public relations because of the work they're already doing, and also already have sources of campaign contributions. New candidates, however, have to come up with campaign money and also need to look for ways to connect with voters.

"Montgomery County voters don't pay a lot of attention to state and local races," Lee said. "A vacancy shakes things up."

However, Lee said, all the candidates should be prepared to work hard during the 2006 race. With so many major races at the top of the ticket -- county executive, governor, state comptroller -- the District 20 race will likely be less publicized.

"[Candidates are] going to have to go out and go door to door," Lee said.

The campaigning has already begun, as has the quest for campaign money. Former Takoma Park City Councilwoman Heather Mizeur, the director of domestic policy for 2004 Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, is running for a House seat in District 20. She held a fund-raiser Dec. 8 attended by Kerry, Franchot and Hixson.

Kerry, the main attraction of Mizeur's fund-raiser, "has been extremely gracious and supportive in this effort," Mizeur said.

Mizeur said she'd been thinking about running for a seat in the House regardless of whether Franchot gave up his post.

Her constituents, she said, encouraged her to take a shot at office on a state level. With her work on the Takoma Park City Council and on Capitol Hill, she said she feels she has the knowledge and experience to push for progressive programs.

Takoma Park City Councilwoman Joy Austin-Lane has also filed. When she thought about running for Franchot's seat in May, "I got a resounding yes from a lot of people," she said.

The decision to run, Austin-Lane said, was largely based on the fact that there is an open seat. However, she said, there are many issues she feels need to be addressed at a higher level of government.

Austin-Lane, who represents the Old Town area (Dist. 1) in Takoma Park, said she believes her experience on the Takoma Park City Council has prepared her for political work at the state level; she has experience going to community meetings and working with residents one-on-one. She also thinks it's important that Takoma Park be represented.

"Takoma Park is the only municipality in District 20. Silver Spring is unincorporated. ... It makes sense that Takoma Park would have someone in there. The two delegates who are in there right now are from Silver Spring," Austin-Lane said.

Other names are beginning to surface as well. Tom Hucker, a Silver Spring resident and executive director of Silver Spring-based nonprofit Progressive Maryland, has not yet filed but believes he will also run for a House seat. "A lot of people have encouraged me to run," he said.

And his decision -- as well as that of others, Hucker estimated -- was due in part to the fact that Franchot's seat is open.

"There hasn't been a seat open in 20 years," Hucker said.

Hucker said he has spent a considerable amount of time in Annapolis lobbying, learning about the legislative process and making contacts, and he feels that experience has prepared him to take on a role of his own.

"All the delegates and the senator are good on focusing on the issues. The trouble is we don't get enough bills to the floor," Hucker said.

Silver Spring resident Blair Ewing, a former county councilman and Board of Education member, told a Gazette reporter in early November that he was no longer running for the County Council and had considered a District 20 run. However, when contacted later, he said he hadn't made a decision as to whether he will enter the race.

Even though Franchot's seat is open, since the top three vote-getters advance from the primary to the general election, the incumbents will have some campaigning to do as well. Hixson has been a member of the House of Delegates since 1976 and chairwoman of the Ways and Means committee since 1993.

"I stay because I think I make a difference," she said.

Hixson said she's spoken with most people who've expressed an interest in running for office, and said it's not uncommon to have several people run in the Democratic primaries; in past years, eight to 10 people have run.

"As long as I've been in District 20, there's always been a big primary," she said.

And this year, with an open seat, is no exception.

"People are coming out right now because there's an open seat," Hixson said. "Everyone wants a shot at it. They feel there might not be a shot at it again for a while."

Murray could not be reached for comment on his plans for the election.

Ruben also said she believes Franchot's exodus was the catalyst for more people to step forward to run for a seat in District 20.

"I think we have a fine set of candidates," she said.

Ruben, who has had a 31-year political career, said she also plans on running for re-election.

"You get entrenched in something, whether it be golf, or tennis or bridge or politics," she said. "For me, it was politics."

She enjoys her role, she said, because she gets to be responsive to residents' concerns and has been able to do "a lot for the county. I've been able to bring back quite a bit of money to the county."

But, as she has in past years, Ruben may face some competition as she seeks to retain her seat. Takoma Park resident Jamie Raskin, an American University law professor, said he is considering a run against Ruben and said he plans to decide by the end of January.

Raskin, who is interested in issues like education and affordable housing, said he's close to the family of U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D) of Baltimore. When Sarbanes announced his retirement, "he said that it was time for a new generation of leaders in Maryland, and I took that to heart," Raskin said.

There's movement among the Democratic party in Maryland, with Sarbanes' son John P. Sarbanes running for Congress in a district with a seat vacated by U.S. Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin (D-Dist. 3) of Pikesville, who is hoping to take Sarbanes' Senate spot. And that movement, which is trickling down, is important because it will help revitalize the Democratic party and encourage more people to become active at different levels, Raskin said.

"What happens is you get this massive game of musical chairs," Lee said. "This does not happen often -- it happens every 20 years or so."

There are two ways incumbents can deal with the onslaught of competitors, Lee said. They can band together and let voters decide who to elect, or they can try and back one of the political hopefuls. Both options have their risks.

Leaving the seat open without working together and supporting each other can have unintentional consequences, like weaker incumbents being voted out of office, Lee said. "It's a numbers game."

But working together and choosing a candidate, Lee said, could make the incumbents look like "political bosses" and could make it appear as though they are telling voters who to elect.

"They'll probably leave it hands off," he said.

In any case, the upcoming election represents an opportunity for those who aspire to higher office.

"There's a wonderful wealth of newcomers that have started to run for the delegate position," Raskin said, referring to Franchot's vacated seat. "But everyone has to run together -- challengers and incumbents. ... There are no reserved seats for incumbents."