Campaign finance reports out for Baltimore County executive race
Sun reporter Arthur Hirsch gives us an update from the Baltimore County executive race
Baltimore County executive candidate Kevin Kamenetz has spent four times as much on advertising as his chief opponent for the Democratic nomination, Joseph Bartenfelder, according to the last campaign finance reports that will be filed before the primary next week.
Reports show that Kamenetz, 52, a county councilman from Owings Mills, has spent $969,211 on media, as compared with $243,893 for Bartenfelder, 53, a councilman from Fullerton. Also running for the Democratic nomination in the Sept. 14 primary is Ronald E. Harvey, a former county employee from Nottingham, who reported total expenses of $1,278 and a cash balance of $3,872.
The winner will face Republican Kenneth Holt, a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates who is running unopposed for his party’s nomination.
While he’s way behind in advertising spending, Bartenfelder has spent more than five times as much as Kamenetz for campaign signs, brochures and other printed materials, reflecting both a difference in resources and a different approach to the campaign. Bartenfelder’s campaign chairman, W. Michael Seganish, has said they never expected to match Kamenetz in fundraising, and have focused on using more traditional methods of posting lots of signs and relying on volunteers to get their voters out. Bartenfelder reports spending $175,987 on printing and campaign materials, compared with $33,807 for Kamenetz.
Bartenfelder has raised $889,866 and reported a cash balance of $461,219. Kamenetz has raised $1,445,471 and reported a cash balance of $357,425.
Kamenetz’s television advertisements have so far focused on his accomplishments in public safety and his work on helping to get air conditioning installed at the Ridgely Middle School in Lutherville-Timonium. He has also aired a 30-second spot criticizing Bartenfelder’s record on the environment when he was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates between 1982 and 1994. Both men have served on the County Council since December 1994.
In his television advertisements, Bartenfelder has introduced himself to voters who don’t know him, touted his contribution to winning school construction funds and claimed that Kamenetz has misrepresented his record. Kamenetz has also accused Bartenfelder of distortions in his ads.
Kamenetz argues that Bartenfelder has claimed undue credit for winning school construction money and misrepresented his record on voting against council pay raises and on council pension reform. Bartenfelder voted against the pay raise in 2005, but in favor of two others before that. In January of this year, Bartenfelder supported pension reform that would have cut benefits 40-percent to current members, while Kamenetz – along with all council members but Bartenfelder – supported a 40-percent cut only for future members.
Bartenfelder argues that Kamenetz’s advertising leaves the incorrect impression that Kamenetz has been endorsed by county police and that air conditioning has been installed at Ridgely Middle. The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #4 has endorsed Bartenfelder. While the Ridgely Middle air conditioning project has been approved, the installation hasn’t begun.
The police advertisement, featuring former county officer Rainier Harvey, says Kamenetz “put more police in our neighborhoods.” While Kamenetz says that he worked with the police department to deploy 82 new police officers to new neighborhood programs in 1996, the police were hired with a federal grant. Kamenetz does not claim to have helped secure the grant.
