Della loses support of fellow elected officials
Two Baltimore city councilmen have endorsed challenger Bill Ferguson, a 27-year-old aide to city schools CEO Andres Alonso who hopes to unseat veteran lawmaker Sen. George W. Della Jr. in a hotly contested Baltimore legislative race.
In an unusual move, William Cole and Ed Reisinger threw their support to Ferguson on Friday. This year Councilman Bill Henry also broke incumbency ranks and endorsed Hector Torres who is challenging Sen. Joan Carter Conway in Northeast Baltimore.
It's rare for elected officials to eschew an incumbent, and the decision by Cole, Reisinger and Henry carries some risks. If Della wins re-election, he won't soon forget the disloyalty. And neither will Conway.
State senators have significant sway over state-funded projects, liquor licenses and board appointments in the districts they represent, and the councilmen should expect retribution if they seek assistance in those areas.
But perhaps the city level representatives have their fingers in the wind, and sense an upset on Tuesday. In that case, Ferguson would surely remember the allies who stuck their necks out for him. As would Torres.
In an unusual move, William Cole and Ed Reisinger threw their support to Ferguson on Friday. This year Councilman Bill Henry also broke incumbency ranks and endorsed Hector Torres who is challenging Sen. Joan Carter Conway in Northeast Baltimore.
It's rare for elected officials to eschew an incumbent, and the decision by Cole, Reisinger and Henry carries some risks. If Della wins re-election, he won't soon forget the disloyalty. And neither will Conway.
State senators have significant sway over state-funded projects, liquor licenses and board appointments in the districts they represent, and the councilmen should expect retribution if they seek assistance in those areas.
But perhaps the city level representatives have their fingers in the wind, and sense an upset on Tuesday. In that case, Ferguson would surely remember the allies who stuck their necks out for him. As would Torres.
Cole served with Della in the General Assembly, making the endorsement of a rival all the more significant.
“After years of letting our children down, we are on the verge of creating the school system that Baltimore’s kids deserve,” Reisinger said in a statement explaining his decision.
“We need new leadership, new ideas and new energy in the State Senate to get the job done. Bill Ferguson is the right person at the right time.”
“As we looked at this race, there was a vast difference in what the candidates will be able to accomplish for Baltimore’s future,” said Cole in the statement.
“Great schools will help make all of our neighborhoods stronger. We made the decision that it would be wrong to stay on the sidelines. It’s time for all of us to come together behind Bill Ferguson.”
“After years of letting our children down, we are on the verge of creating the school system that Baltimore’s kids deserve,” Reisinger said in a statement explaining his decision.
“We need new leadership, new ideas and new energy in the State Senate to get the job done. Bill Ferguson is the right person at the right time.”
“As we looked at this race, there was a vast difference in what the candidates will be able to accomplish for Baltimore’s future,” said Cole in the statement.
“Great schools will help make all of our neighborhoods stronger. We made the decision that it would be wrong to stay on the sidelines. It’s time for all of us to come together behind Bill Ferguson.”
Comments
Be forthright with us, david. unless you have been completely ignoring south baltimore politics for the last couple of years, you would know that bill cole hates della and has been actively campaigning for his opposition for some time. for you to call his endorsement a surprise is disingenous or grossly uninformed. i agree that reisinger was a surprise. but not really when u consider that they are both puppets of colleen martin lauer and pat turner.
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David responds: I don't purport to be an expert in South Baltimore politics, but I am aware of Cole's issues with Della. I do not say in the post that the endorsement was a "surprise;" I called it "unusual."
Posted by: Facts, Man? | September 10, 2010 8:57 PM
Cole and Resisnger--two more politicians who will lose their jobs next September.
Posted by: MikeVanWii | September 10, 2010 9:00 PM
I am thrilled to see Bill Cole standing up to Senator Della. Della has used bully tactics far too long (he tried to force Mike Miller's boss to get Mike out of the last election) and he's done nothing for the district. His father may have been a good leader, he is not. I agree with Mr. Cole 100%. Bill Ferguson is the future of the district.
Posted by: Otterbein Resident | September 10, 2010 11:22 PM
I work for a non-profit and Sen. Della is calls us frequently to get help for his constituents or just to raise issues that he's hearing. I hope residents in his district, which I was for years, look at the bills he's supported and fought for, ask what he has done for his constituents, and make your own decision.
Posted by: Roberta | September 12, 2010 8:27 PM
I was on the fence about Della/Ferguson until I got a mail piece from Della with the MSEA endorsement on it. It seemed to me that if a teacher whose #1 platform issue is education wasn't endorsed by a teachers' group, there was something fishy.
Now I see comments to the Sun's endorsement of Ferguson claiming that the MSEA is anti-Baltimore due to Baltimore teachers' refusal to affiliate with MSEA's parent, NEA. Is there anything to this? I'm not happy about being shoved back onto the fence!
Posted by: MarkT | September 13, 2010 9:48 AM
Mark,
MSEA is not affiliated with the Baltimore Teachers Union. It's long been hostile to Baltimore City for a variety of reasons. That's why Della's publication of MSEA is particular misleading.
More fundementally, I think that looking to any teacher's union to determine which candidate would be better for the state's education system is a mistake. As a former member of a teacher's union, I can say that many teacher's unions are wonderful organizations that do a great job for their members, but the economic interests of teachers and education reform do not always align. Just as you would not expect the United Auto Workers to be the best advocates for modernization, reform and efficiency in the auto industry, it's unfair to expect teacher's unions to advocate for education. While they pay lip service to education, MSEA and NEA almost universally endorse AFL-CIO candidates, such as Della, whose priority is protecting members rather than systemic reform. In this case, Della has actually be anti-teachers unions but pro-labor. He actually voted to push the cost of teacher's pensions down to the City rather than leave the state responsible for them.
Democrats for Education reform is a better gauge of who is the true education candidate. You can find them with google and they named Ferguson their education reformer of the month in August -- nice write up.
Posted by: Scott | September 13, 2010 12:53 PM
Thanks for the thoughtful response Scott. It's always nice to find reasoned discussion in the comments.instead of name-calling - yours were of course the comments on the endorsement I was referring to. I was hoping to hear a response from someone else, maybe David or one of the other blogger/reporters, but MSEA aside, the rest of your points make a lot of sense, and I'll check into the group you mentioned.
Posted by: MarkT | September 13, 2010 1:46 PM