NEWS CONFERENCE 827

A. No. I think when you are a representative of a minority party
you have to wait until the very last minute to make that decision.
From a standpoint of reality, a minority party candidate can only win
if the climate is right for a minority party candidate. And that's an
overriding consideration. Other considerations are whether the can-
didate himself wants to become a candidate and that's something that
I can't positively say how I am going to feel a year from now — or a
year and a half from now,

Q. How do you feel now?

A. Fine.

(Senate and Congress)

Q. How active are you going to be, Governor, in the senatorial and
congressional campaigns?

A. Well, I am going to be active certainly to support candidates
such as Mac Mathias, who I think is one of the outstanding legislative
candidates that I have seen come along in my political life. I am going
to involve myself with all the candidates of my Party who are nomi-
nated for positions to a lesser extent, I would think, than I will with
the few principal ones. But I am going to try to help elect as many
Republicans as I can this year.

Q. Do you consider Glenn Beall, for instance, one of the principal
ones?

A. I like Glenn Beall. I do think he's got a tremendous future in
Maryland politics. I think he's shown his legislative ability here in
the General Assembly and he'll be an excellent candidate. I under-
stand that Mr. Beall has competition in the Primary and I think this
is a very healthy thing for our Party. I am not going to endorse or
select between candidates in every primary; but this doesn't foreclose
the fact that I may in certain stated cases, where I think a person of
very exceptional ability is running, endorse his candidacy and try to
help him.

Q. What effect do you think Mr. Mahoney's jumping into the race
as an Independent will have in the senatorial race, either helping
Mr. Mathias or hindering him or helping Mr. Brewster or just what?

A. Well, you know that's a very difficult thing to evaluate — the effect
of an Independent candidate. During the last gubernatorial election
when Mr. Pressman became an Independent candidate I was tre-
mendously concerned that it would make it impossible for a minority
party candidate to win, but it didn't work out that way. I guess an