"From humiliation to political triumph." The Baltimore Sun, 11 November 1998.

The Baltimore Sun November 11, 1998, Wednesday,

November 11, 1998, Wednesday, FINAL EDITION

SECTION: TELEGRAPH (NEWS), Pg. 1A

LENGTH: 1408 words

HEADLINE: From humiliation to political triumph; Owens' 1994 drubbing followed by stunning Anne Arundel victory

BYLINE: Tom Pelton, SUN STAFF

BODY:

Her mother stood beside her that miserable night four years ago at Michael's Eighth Avenue catering hall in Glen Burnie when Janet S. Owens
suffered a humiliating political defeat, losing in a landslide her bid to become court clerk.

Dorothy Owens, then 71, looked at her genteel but stubborn daughter, who had spent her career as a social services administrator, and
proclaimed that she was not meant for the "dirty" world of politics.

"She said, 'Never again! I never want you to get involved in a campaign again!' " Janet Owens said.

   Four years later, the elder Owens did not see her daughter defy the skepticism of her family and the opposition of every county elected official
   in her Democratic Party to beat an incumbent Anne Arundel County executive who had five times as much campaign money. She became the
   first woman elected to the job and the only challenger to defeat an incumbent for the office. Dorothy Owens was not there when her daughter
   won a thunderous standing ovation in the State House the day after the election. She died of a heart attack in her sleep shortly after her
   daughter failed in her bid to become court clerk in 1994.

What would she have thought about her daughter's landslide victory over the most powerful man in county politics?

"She would have been thrilled," said Janet Owens' husband, David Sheehan. "But she would also have been horribly mortified, because she did
not have a high opinion of politicians."

Owens' supporters paint her victory as an example of how big money and incumbency don't always rule in politics. They say even underdogs
such as Owens can win if they have faith in themselves and the help of their neighbors.

But Kathleen S. Skullney, executive director of Common Cause/Maryland, cautioned against reading too much into this year's elections. There
were a number of freakish victories this year, Skullney said, including that of a former professional wrestler elected governor of Minnesota.

   "Let us not forget that this is the year of Jesse 'The Body' Ventura," said Skullney, whose nonprofit organization lobbies for campaign-finance
   reform. "Before we paint too optimistic a picture here, we should realize that her story is not the norm these days. Big money remains a huge
   factor in elections."

Gov. Parris N. Glendening said Owens' victory was not freakish.

"Janet's victory was a testament to her own perseverance and determination," said the governor. "Like many Democrats, myself included, she
proved the pundits wrong who had predicted she couldn't win."

To beat Republican John G. Gary last week, Owens had to endure the abuse of the Democratic machine in northern Anne Arundel County. She
said that abuse included a threat against her family by an elected official she won't identify.

The Democrats were trying to strong-arm her out of running in the primary against their candidate, former County Council Chairwoman Diane R.
Evans, a former Republican whom top Democrats had recruited to their party for her name recognition.

"I was harassed, threatened, told to go no place alone," Owens said of her party. "In June, I got a call at home saying that my family was not
safe. It was a real knock-down, drag-out. But I always had confidence that I could win."

That stubbornness came in part from her mother, who was such a dominant force in her daughter's life that friends kept bringing up her name on
election night.

Janet Owens, 54, was born on a rolling 185-acre tobacco farm in Bristol that the family has owned since before the Civil War. The Owenses
immigrated from Wales in the late 1600s and were so important in southern Anne Arundel that Owensville was named after them.

"They were old colonists, the Owenses," said the Rev. David K. Leighton, the 11th bishop of the Episcopal Church of Maryland, to which the
family belongs. "They were tobacco farmers back when when tobacco farming was the lifeblood of Anne Arundel County."

Dorothy Owens was an outgoing, energetic "ball of fire" with a lively sense of humor whose daughter looked much like her, Leighton said.

Dot Owens was a Southern socialite, famous for cooking and decorating her home with flowers for 40-person banquets at Christmas and
Thanksgiving. She played the ukulele and sang for her guests, acquaintances said.

She was also a strong-willed woman who didn't believe in self-pity. Once, one of her best friends, neighbor Leola Collinson, suffered a stroke
and didn't feel up to a game of cards. Dot Owens came down hard on her.

"She said, 'Leola, get up and go! Let's play bridge. You can't feel sorry for yourself,' " Janet Owens recalled. "And Leola said, 'For God's sake,
Dot! I've had a stroke!' "

Until her 50s, Dot Owens spent most of her time raising her daughters, Janet and Jennifer, with her husband, Kenneth.

   Then she launched a career as a real estate agent and developer, sometimes working seven days a week selling about 200 subdivided lots in
   Calvert County, said Joseph B. Waters, owner of the J. B. Waters and Associates Inc. real estate company in Prince Frederick, for which the
   elder Owens worked.

Janet Owens left the farm to complete all but her dissertation for a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Massachusetts
in Amherst.

In Amherst, Owens met Sheehan, an attorney. She became the Massachusetts assistant secretary for criminal justice, the No. 2 official in
charge of the state's prisons. He was the state's assistant attorney general.

The couple has two sons, Christopher Sheehan, 21, and Brendan Sheehan, 18.

The family moved to Millersville in 1983, and Owens became director of housing and senior services for Anne Arundel County.

She won an elected post as Orphans' Court judge in 1990 but gave up on politics after losing the court clerk's race in 1994, when many
Democrats were swept out of office by a Republican landslide.

Her mother died about three months later, Feb. 23, 1995. Dot Owens had worked all day, went to bed and failed to show up for a lunch date
the next day with her daughters in Annapolis.

"It was a horrible time," Owens said. "There's no question that my mother was my best friend."

Anger fueled Owens' return to politics. Driving between the family's home in Millersville and the farm in Bristol, she became increasingly irritated
by the growing traffic in what had been countryside.

   She said she was infuriated by the county executive, Gary, who seemed to do nothing to stop suburban sprawl. She began seriously thinking
   about running in August 1997, after the Maryland State Teachers Association conducted a poll that found Gary had high negative ratings and
   could be beaten by a woman from South County.

Owens thought Gary's arrogant, combative personality would make him self-destruct, but she also knew that his record-breaking political fund
raising would scare off most Democratic challengers.

Almost all of Owens' best friends tried to persuade her not to run against Gary, who had a reputation for bare-knuckled politics.

"I tried to talk her out of it, because I knew Gary would get nasty," said Pat LoCasio, an adviser to Owens' campaign.

Laughed William F. Chaney, a lifelong friend and treasurer of her campaign, "I thought she didn't have a chance."

   Campaigning on the issues of more money for schools and slower development, Owens won a rough primary against Evans on Sept. 15 and went
   on to beat Gary by a wide margin in the general election. Key to her victory was support from the teachers union, which marched like an army
   for her out of anger that Gary had forced cuts in school programs.

Why didn't she listen to her friends?

"I just really thought they were all wrong," Owens laughed. "Some people say it's the water where I grew up in Bristol. We are all very
independent-minded people."

Now, many in the Democratic establishment that fought her are lining up outside the Spartan offices of her transition team in the county's
Heritage Office Complex on Riva Road in Annapolis.

Her desk is littered with messages from people asking for favors from the farmer's daughter who couldn't even get elected court clerk. Even Vice
President Al Gore called to congratulate her.

Her mother would have been skeptical of all this power.

"She would have been happy for me," said Owens. "But she would have been worried. She would think, 'Oh oh, what has Janet gotten herself
into now?' "

Pub Date: 11/11/98