Michael Schaefer is all about credibility.
Working for Arnold Schwarzenegger?s campaign in California in 2003, he wanted to convince voters ? from one Democrat to another ? the Republican actor was a great political choice. Only, he wasn?t a Democrat.
“I figured the press would interview me as a Democrat for Schwarzenegger,” Schaefer said. “Then, for credibility?s sake, I became a Democrat.”
Now Schaefer is back in Maryland hoping to capture the open U.S. Senate seat and cash in on the name brand of longtime Baltimore politician and former Gov. William Donald Schaefer.
Michael Schaefer ran for the same Maryland spot in 1986 and has filed in at least 18 elections since in California and Nevada alone, capitalizing on the name recognition of other politicians there, like Jared Shafer in a race for administrator of Nevada?s Clark County and Las Vegas state senator Ray Shaffer in a judicial contest.
Aside from a handful of primaries and two terms as a San Diego city councilman, he?s had little success.
The president of a property management company and a gambler and investor, Michael Schaefer was disbarred in California and Nevada and has filed for bankruptcy. He was convicted in Nevada of two assault charges, including one where he pepper-sprayed a man holding the hand of a little girl.
Michael Schaefer maintains the assault was self-defense against the doorman of his apartment building. They?re now good friends, he said.
And his disbarment, he said, was the work of Vegas casino owners who retaliated against a lawsuit he filed after the casino revoked his credit line.
When he offered to help other gamblers with their cases against the casinos, Michael Schaefer said he didn?t stand a chance.
“I?m so devastated by the ?d-word?,” he said. “It?s usually reserved for people who commit felonies and steal from clients. I?m pure at heart.”
Now petitioning for reinstatment to the Nevada bar, Michael Schaefer said he hopes in Maryland to crack down on corporate compensation, redraft election laws and nab rising utility rates. His state ties include owning a Baltimore hotel and a corn farm in Charles County.
He admits that, and his name, might not be enough to win this time.
He is far behind frontrunners Rep. Ben Cardin, and former Congressman Kweisi Mfume.
“I have a habit of running for U.S. Senate in Maryland every 20 years,” he said. “I?ll be back in 2026.”
