O’Donnell, Bohanan waiting for challengers

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Four years ago, House Minority Whip Anthony J. O’Donnell won re-election by less than 500 votes, and his role as one of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.’s chief legislative allies has put him near the top of the Democrats’ most-wanted list.

‘‘In the last election, the state political machine on the other side threw everything in the kitchen sink at me, and I fortunately withstood that,” said O’Donnell (R-Calvert, St. Mary’s). ‘‘If that’s done again and they throw the faucet handle in as well, I’m ready for it.”

In 2002, Del. John L. Bohanan had a wider margin of victory — about 1,900 votes — but his St. Mary’s district has an almost equal number of registered Democrats and Republicans, an opportunity for the GOP to make inroads.

Maryland Republican Party spokeswoman Audra Miller called Bohanan ‘‘out of touch with his constituents,” but would not say if he is on the GOP’s target list. ‘‘I know that’s a district that we do not plan to go unchallenged.”

Both incumbents have stockpiled significant campaign cash — Bohanan (D-St. Mary’s) boasts $84,000 and O’Donnell has $65,000 — in anticipation of a challenge, but no challengers have emerged so far.

Still, both men expect an opponent will surface.

‘‘No matter who it ends up being, we’re going to be ready,” said Bohanan, who is being opposed in the Democratic primary by James P. Cusick Sr., a Lexington Park man whose efforts to bring attention to child support reform landed him in jail for more than five years.

When O’Donnell was first elected in 1994, he won by only 32 votes. But he said past performance is ‘‘not necessarily an indicator of future results,” in part because the GOP has gained strength since Ehrlich’s 2002 election.

Former Calvert County commissioner Pat Buehler, O’Donnell’s Democratic opponent four years ago, said it will be more difficult for a Democrat to win in November.

‘‘If you look at Tony’s record over the past few years, you have to give him credit,” Buehler said. ‘‘He’s worked with Ehrlich, and he’s brought a significant amount of money back to Calvert County.”

Former comptroller Robert L. ‘‘Bobby” Swann, who lives in Solomons, agrees that O’Donnell has wide name recognition and will be tough to defeat.

‘‘I can’t give him any negative marks when it comes to serving the community, at least in this four-year period,” said Swann, a Democrat. ‘‘I would say Tony is in the best position since he has been in politics.”

But Maryland Democratic Party spokesman David Paulson said O’Donnell’s alliance with Ehrlich will hurt him, even though the governor overwhelmingly carried Southern Maryland in 2002.

‘‘He’s had to carry the governor’s water on tax hikes, and I’m wondering if the voters of his particular district knew that, would they vote for anyone but him, Republican or Democrat?” Paulson said.

Meanwhile, some political observers consider Bohanan, who was appointed to the legislature in 1999, a rising star in the legislature. He chairs a subcommittee on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, and his knowledge of military affairs is a key asset.

‘‘He’s perceived as a player in Annapolis,” said Zach Messitte, a St. Mary’s College of Maryland political science professor. ‘‘He’s perceived by people who know as someone who is on the move.”

Bohanan’s full-time job as senior policy adviser to Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) and his ties to the defense contracting community have paid political dividends in St. Mary’s County, home to Patuxent River Naval Air Station.

Bohanan, who worked as a defense contractor in St. Mary’s before entering the political arena, agreed that the role has been professionally and politically ‘‘synergistic.

‘‘Most of the meetings I’m involved in, I comfortably wear both hats,” he said. ‘‘Having the state legislative experience has enhanced my capacity as a congressional staffer, and having the lengthy experience as a congressional staffer has greatly benefited me as a state legislator.”

‘‘He has had a conservative-minded reputation down here,” said Todd Morgan, president of the Southern Maryland Navy Alliance and a Republican who supports Bohanan. ‘‘I think that he is able to walk that tightrope and appeal to both Republicans and Democrats in the community to get that vote.”

Barbara Thompson (R), former president of the St. Mary’s County commissioners, acknowledged that it will be difficult for a Republican to stage a competitive campaign with so little time left to raise money and garner votes.

‘‘It would have to be a very unusual circumstance, but you never say never,” she said.

E-mail Alan Brody at abrody@somdnews.com.