Not that there?s any competition between Comptroller-elect Peter Franchot and Gov.-elect Martin O?Malley, but Franchot?s transition team is bigger than O?Malley?s, and is co-chaired by an ex-governor and the mayor?s former primary opponent.
Franchot announced on Tuesday that he was having a 47-member team headed by former Gov. Harry Hughes, also a member of O?Malley?s 41-person team, and by retiring Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan.
“I have great respect for Gov. Hughes,” Franchot said, and “Doug Duncan is a major leader in the Washington area.”
Franchot?s team also includes several prominent Republicans, among them former Baltimore County Sen. F. Vernon Boozer, once the Senate?s GOP leader, and state Sen.-elect George Edwards, current leader of the GOP in the House of Delegates.
“I promised to open up the office of the comptroller,” Franchot said, and the new team reflects that in its “bipartisan participation.” Howard Denis, a former GOP senator who was defeated for re-election to the Montgomery County Council, and former GOP Sen. John Bambacus, now an independent, are also part of the group.
Also on both Franchot?s and O?Malley?s transition teams is former state budget secretary Eloise Foster, who is heading the governor-elect?s workgroup on the state budget.
Franchot named several union leaders who were early supporters in his attempt to unseat Comptroller William Donald Schaefer. They include Ronald DeJuliis, president of the Baltimore Building and Construction Trades Council; Gus Lester of the carpenter?s union; and John Reid, executive vice president of SEIU Local 1199.
