The only black candidate for a Baltimore County Circuit Court judgeship said he is being singled out by the judicial establishment and asked to withdraw from the campaign.
William R. Buie III, 35, said that his candidacy has received attention because Baltimore County currently has only one black candidate running in a county with 17 elected circuit court judges, 16 of whom are white.
The disparity, he said, makes him a desirable candidate in a county that is roughly 30 percent black.
“I think my competition is concerned because I?m an African-American candidate, who is going to receive 100 percent of the black vote and the majority of the white vote.”
Buie said that sittingBaltimore County Circuit Court Judge Mickey Norman has called him to ask that he withdraw from the race. Norman is part of a slate of four sitting judges that Buie is running against in the fall election.
“First, he said, ?Congratulations,?” Buie told The Examiner. “Then he told me that I needed to withdraw and get out of the election, and that Judge Thomas Bollinger would be retiring, and that I should apply for Judge Bollinger?s position.”
Buie said that Norman has called him continually since he formally announced his candidacy in May. Buie also said he was told by another judge he would be offered a state job if he withdrew.
Norman said the accusations are untrue.
“That is a bald-face lie,” Norman said. “I called him up and said, ?Welcome to the race.? I didn?t try to dissuade him.”
Buie has recently been in the news as a witness in an attempted murder case in which his former secretary, with whom he was having an affair, is accused of attempting to hire one of Buie?s clients to murder his current secretary.
Norman said the case calls into question Buie?s qualifications.
“He?s only practiced law for seven years,” Norman added.
“I?m only a witness. I?m doing my duty as a citizen. If I were a defendant, that would be a different story,” Buie said.
Despite the controversy, Buie said his candidacy is too significant to give up now. “It?s not 1966. It?s 2006 and time for change,” he said.
