With the filing deadline less than a week away, Republicans are still waiting to hear who might replace Lt. Gov. Michael Steele as Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s running mate.
Numerous names, including those of several women, have been rumored to be on the short list of candidates for months.
At the top of the list are state Sen. Sandra Schrader, a Republican from Howard County, and Disabilities Secretary Kristin Cox, of Towson.
Ehrlich is expected to announce his choice Wednesday in his hometown of Arbutus, according to a campaign spokesman.
Choosing Schrader could help raise the opinion of Ehrlich among suburban women voters, a group that polls have shown is not supporting the governor as much as it did four years ago.
Schrader may have hurt her chances when she bucked Ehrlich and sided with Democrats on the Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. rate relief plan earlier this month. She later changed her mind and sided with Ehrlich’s veto of the bill, which was overruled by the General Assembly on Friday.
Schrader could not be reached Sunday. She told The Examiner last week that she had discussed the job with a representative from the governor’s office.
Cox, a former Bush appointee, is legally blind. She has served as disabilities secretary since July 2004 and was formerly appointed by Ehrlich in July 2003 to serve as director of the Governor’s Office for Individuals with Disabilities. Cox could not be reached Sunday.
Other possible contenders for the job include Secretary of State Mary Kane, wife of stop GOP Chairman John Kane, and Victor Hoskins, secretary of housing and community development. Schrader is the only one to have held an elected office.
Ehrlich Press Secretary Sharrese DeLeaver would not comment on potential running mates Sunday, nor would she say if the campaign has spoken to candidates.
“We have not confirmed anything concerning the governor’s [lieutenant governor] pick,” DeLeave said.
Ehrlich’s choice could have a big impact on his campaign. After Democrat Doug Duncan dropped out of the governor’s race Thursday, political experts have said that the governor will need to work harder and earlier to beat presumed Democratic nominee Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley. Ehrlich’s choice of Steele in 2002 made news after Steele became the first black candidate elected to a statewide office.
