Ehrlich Picks Gubernatorial Ticket Mate
State GOP Chief Part of Bid to Woo Blacks

By Daniel LeDuc
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 2, 2002; Page A01

Maryland Republican gubernatorial candidate Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. yesterday tapped state Republican Chairman Michael S. Steele, the only African American state GOP chief in the
country, as his choice for lieutenant governor.

Steele's candidacy is a sign, Ehrlich said, that Republicans will make a strong effort to appeal to black voters who traditionally vote Democratic.

"It's history standing before you today," Ehrlich said. "Republican, Democrat, Independent, blacks, whites, it doesn't matter. The old lines are gone. It's a call for change, and we
represent that change."

In a state where Republican voters are outnumbered by Democrats 2 to 1, Ehrlich must have crossover support to win in November. Last month, he tried unsuccessfully to persuade state
Superintendent of Schools Nancy S. Grasmick, a longtime Democrat, to be his running mate.

Last week, his Democratic rival, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, made clear that she was not giving up on independent voters and also was reaching out to Republicans when she
selected as her running mate retired Adm. Charles R. Larson, former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, who abandoned the GOP to become a Democrat.

Political scientist Donald Norris predicted that Steele would not have much success in reaching out to African American Democrats.

"Blacks are going to vote for blacks who share their policy preferences and partisan preferences. Mr. Steele doesn't," said Norris, who teaches at the University of Maryland Baltimore
County and has studied voting trends in Baltimore, one of the most concentrated areas of black voters in the state. "He is a conservative whose positions are conservative, and he is a
Republican. Most blacks are Democrats."

Steele was among three finalists to be Republican Ellen R. Sauerbrey's running mate four years ago, and ended up running unsuccessfully for comptroller on her ticket in the GOP primary.

This time, he again was one of three finalists over the weekend as the Republicans filled out their ticket in time for yesterday's filing deadline.

Steele and Ehrlich share similar personal stories. Both are products of working-class families who attended prestigious universities and became lawyers. Steele, who also studied briefly
for the priesthood, grew up in a Democratic household in the District, where his parents kept a photo of Townsend's uncle, John F. Kennedy, on the living room wall.

Ehrlich introduced Steele at a rally at the City Dock in Annapolis, with the State House looming on the horizon. He said their "philosophical compatibility" was the most important reason
for selecting Steele, 43, of Largo.

Though they have similar backgrounds and views on economic issues, Steele opposes abortion rights and the death penalty -- just the opposite of Ehrlich's positions.

"It's part of my religious upbringing," Steele said. "I will follow the next governor. I will argue my beliefs when asked."

Steele is not the first African American to run for lieutenant governor. Republican Aris T. Allen, who was an Anne Arundel County physician and member of the legislature, ran
unsuccessfully with gubernatorial candidate J. Glenn Beall in 1978, and U.S. Rep. Parren J. Mitchell ran unsuccessfully with Stephen Sachs in the Democratic primary in 1986.

Still, Republicans viewed Steele's selection as historic.

"He'll do very well with liberal and moderate voters. Having a minority come and speak on the candidate's behalf is going to go over very well" in Montgomery County, said John Kane, a
Potomac businessman who weighed a run for governor himself last year.

Sauerbrey said Steele's selection would prevent Democrats from unfairly attacking Ehrlich on civil rights, as she said they did to her four years ago. Her civil rights record was questioned
by Democrats who misrepresented Sauerbrey's votes in the legislature on housing issues that had nothing to do with race, yet which she said accounted for a dramatically higher African
American turnout against her in 1998 than in her 1994 run.

"The Democrats have a lily-white ticket," she said. "They've made no effort at outreach at all."

Steele was picked from a list of about two dozen women and 15 men, both Republicans and Democrats, said William E. Brock III, a former U.S. senator and onetime chairman of the
Republican National Committee who headed up the selection process for Ehrlich.

Brock said the job was initially Grasmick's for the asking. When she declined, the GOP began to refocus, eventually settling on Steele on Sunday night. They were looking for a candidate
with a compelling life story, and said he also offered a chance to make inroads with African Americans.

Townsend "thinks she can take that vote for granted," Brock said. "I think she's wrong."

Michael Morrill, a spokesman for Townsend, declined to comment directly on Steele. "We are proud of the running mate that is on our ticket, who has real leadership, real experience, real
vision and a real record," he said.

As GOP chairman for the past two years, Steele has moved aggressively to make the Republicans, in his words, "a true opposition party." This year, he led the party's efforts to challenge
the legislative redistricting plan prepared by Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D).

The governor's plan was intended for Democrats to make further gains in the State House. But last month, Maryland's highest court declared it unconstitutional and developed its own
map, which may help elect more Republicans.

The court also disclosed that Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Prince George's) and three other Democratic senators attempted to contact judges on the court to discuss
redistricting.

Steele was the leading critic of those lawmakers. His complaints prompted investigations of the lawmakers by the legislature's ethics committee and an investigation of Miller by the
Attorney Grievance Commission. Miller is the only lawyer among the senators.

                                                 © 2002 The Washington Post Company