Coming in at #2 is Delegate Shawn Tarant. perceived as a shameless opportunist, he made it clear, during his first term of office, that he is there to serve he will of House Speaker Michael Busch and Governor O'Malley over and above his constituency.

Coming in at #3, there's Delegate Barbara Robinson. Clueless, useless, and pretty worthless as a representative. Her claim to fame is authoring some books and owning successful businesses which has afforded her enough personal wealth to fund her campaigns and pay high-priced political pimp, Julius Henson. Her business practices are questionable based on recently settled lawsuits that alleged negligence which caused harm to senior citizens. Robinson appears too self-absorbed to be an effective legislator.

Challenger, Will Hanna, was the best candidate of this bunch. He appears sincere in his desire to advocate for people and communities of this district. Should he run again, he should be able to knock off at least one the the incumbent delegates. But, he'll have to spend more time targeting voters and less time hanging out with non-voters.

Of course, there is the strong possibility of an open seat, as it is easy to envision ambitious Tarrant challenging Pugh for the senate seat. And, yes, Pugh will still be a senator in four years because she will lose BIG in any attempt to run for mayor. Just remmber her big loss, in 2003, to Sheila Dixon, for City Council President. Pugh had enough money and insider support to win. She's simply not believable, likeable, or appealing as a candidate for citywide office.

Perhaps, if the Sun, the city's ONLY daily newspaper, actually provided coverage of local candidates and races, voter education and engagement would increase. Perhaps, Baltimore could boast an election where more than 20% of voters cast their vote. Think about it.

Bykowicz, somehow, the first part of my comment got cut off. The rest doesn't make much sense without it. Please consider adding the first part (below) to the top of my previous comment. I realize it's long. Promise to strive for brevity in future comments--Forwarning! I intend to comment on races in each legislative district.

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Since I find this post, as well as the Sun's overall coverage of local political races both boring and inadequate, I'm prompted to post my own, more detailed comments about the WINNERS & LOSERS in Baltimore's senate/delegate races. I'll begin with legislative district 40.

District 40 - LOSERS -the residents and sole challenger. WINNERS - the sorry incumbents.

Senator Catherine Pugh ran and won, unopposed. She's politically ambitious, wears clothing, fashion industry standards would deem too tight and short for a woman her age, and she's perceived as a floor mistress to Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller. She's a strong fundraiser and self-promoter. And, these, her best qualities, sadly, make her the best representative in this sorry delegation.

Frank Conaway, Jr., was the top vote getter of the three delegates. He's a purported bi-polar, alcohol and ex-wife abuser, that passed not one bill during his first four years in office. His outside employment is as a mailroom clerk for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City, the same Circuit Court where his daddy is Clerk of the Court.