After 51 Years of Campaigns in Maryland, a First Loss (original) (raw)

Sept. 14, 2006

BALTIMORE, Sept. 13 For the first time in a half-century, William Donald Schaefer has lost an election.

Mr. Schaefer, 84, who served four terms as Baltimore’s mayor and two as Maryland’s governor, failed on Tuesday in his bid for re-election as the state’s comptroller.

He said Wednesday that he knew the three-way race for the Democratic nomination would be close, but added, “I didn’t think I was going to lose.” After all, he had not lost an election since winning his first Baltimore City Council seat in 1955.

Mr. Schaefer said it would be premature to write his political obituary, though, because he was considering running for mayor of Ocean City, the neon-soaked resort town on the Atlantic.

“I’m looking to Ocean City,” he said. “I’m going to start my advertising campaign. I got a few Schaefer signs, and I’m going to just take the word “comptroller” off and slap “mayor” down there, and away I go.”

Mr. Schaefer’s eyes had lighted up when a staff member suggested running for mayor in next month’s election in Ocean City, where he owns a condominium, said Michael Golden, a spokesman for the comptroller.

At a news conference Wednesday in Annapolis, Mr. Schaefer fondly recalled his years in Baltimore’s City Hall.

“I loved being mayor more than anything else,” he said. “The best job I ever had was being mayor, and the reason for it is you were able to help people. The job of a person in public life is to do one thing: help people.”

A bachelor whose longtime companion, Hilda Mae Snoops, died in 1999, Mr. Schaefer has devoted most of his waking hours to politics.

But his support had eroded recently after what many deemed offensive comments and behavior. He had ogled a woman at a public meeting, complained about immigrants who struggled to speak English and, in the past few weeks, took aim at one of his opponents in the comptroller’s race, Janet Owens.

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William Donald Schaefer, 84, after a news conference Wednesday to discuss losing his bid for re-election as Maryland comptroller. Mr. Shaefer, a former governor and mayor, already has an eye on his next campaign.Credit...Steve Ruark/Associated Press

Mr. Schaefer called Ms. Owens, 62, the Anne Arundel County executive, a “Mother Hubbard” who looked like a “great-great grandmother” and said she was “getting fat.” (He said she started the battle by suggesting that he was too old to run.)

The winner of the primary, Delegate Peter Franchot of Montgomery County, had nothing but praise for Mr. Schaefer.

“I salute him,” Mr. Franchot said. “He is a Maryland legend and will remain a Maryland legend.”

Mr. Schaefer is best known for converting Baltimore from a decaying, working-class city into a destination whose Inner Harbor redevelopment became a model for urban renaissance. As mayor from 1971 to 1987, he developed a reputation for working tirelessly to revitalize downtown, improve neighborhoods and foster economic development.

Images and stories of his days as mayor have become the stuff of local legend. Mr. Schaefer kept his promise when the National Aquarium was not completed on time and jumped into the seal pool wearing a Victorian swimsuit and clutching a rubber duck in July 1981. He repeatedly told public-works crews to fix a pothole he saw but refused to say where (so they would fix all the potholes they could find). He insisted that staff members “do it now.”

Asked how he would like to be remembered, Mr. Schaefer replied: “There are two words: ‘He cared.’ People mock me and make fun of it, but it’s the truth.”

Nobody would dispute that Mr. Schaefer cared deeply, especially about Baltimore, said Matthew Crenson, a political scientist at Johns Hopkins University. Even after leaving City Hall, Mr. Schaefer played a pivotal role in city projects, including construction of downtown baseball and football stadiums, Mr. Crenson said.

“He cared, but the statement needs to be qualified because he cared for some things more than others,” Mr. Crenson said.

For instance, he said, while Mr. Schaefer focused heavily on rebuilding downtown and on economic development, he allowed schools to decline and crime to worsen.

And in his later years, Mr. Crenson suggested, what had been a forceful personality sometimes degenerated into personal attacks.

Mr. Schaefer seemed unfazed by such criticism, however, and was unapologetic.

“You know, I’m me,’’ he said, “and if they think I’m ever going to change, keep my mouth shut and start being politically correct, I’m not going to do that.”

Instead of sulking Wednesday morning, he consoled staff members, assured them all would be well and sang “God Bless America” with them twice.

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