As Baltimore?s political pecking order realigns in the wake of Mayor Martin O?Malley?s gubernatorial win, the speculation of who can ? and will ? run for mayor in 2007 may come down to money and timing, experts say.
City Council President Sheila Dixon, who will serve out the last year of O?Malley?s term, will face a daunting task of setting up a government, and preparing for a September 2007 primary.
“She has a real challenge over the next year in having to set some sort of short-term priorities to showsome accomplishments, but at the same time organizing a campaign. It?s a formidable task,” said C. Vernon Gray, a political science professor at Morgan State University.
With the mayoral primary in September, Gray said, candidates will need to start campaigning by March at the latest. Money, and lots of it, will be needed ? anywhere from $500,000 to $2 million, he said.
“What?s going to be the obstacle for a lot of people is fundraising,” Gray said. “The September primary only gives candidates 11 to 12 months, ” he said.
But even if well-known names such as former Congressman Kweisi Mfume and city Comptroller Joan Pratt enter the race, Gray said the fundraising edge still goes to Dixon.
“She?s in the position to raise money,” he said.
Clerk of the Court Frank Conaway, who has already formed an exploratory committee, said fundraising will not impede his campaign. “I?ve never needed to spend a lot of money on campaigns because of the organization I have in place,” he said. “I have citywide name recognition.”
City Councilman Kenneth Harris, D-District 4, said he has taken steps to weigh his options. “I?m putting an exploratory committee in place to consider my options for a citywide office ? that could be mayor, president of the City Council or comptroller,” Harris said. “I met with my committee yesterday,” he said Thursday.
Potential candidates from the state delegation ? including Jill Carter, D-District 41, who told The Examiner in September that she might run ? face a tough financial road given restrictions on fundraising during the three-month legislative session. Still, Carter is undeterred.
“I believe I?m going to run for mayor; I?ve searched my soul the last couple of days,” she said Thursday, adding that an exploratory committee is examining fund-raising strategies.
But Councilman Kieffer Jackson Mitchell, D-District 11, said he, for one, is tired of speculating. “I?ve haven?t seen this many exploratory committees since Lewis and Clark discovered the Pacific Ocean,” Mitchell said.
