George Owings to challenge Maryland Gov. O’Malley for Democratic gubernatorial nomination

Owings to seek Dem nomination for Md. governor

PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. — George Owings, a longtime Democratic lawmaker who joined former Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich’s administration, said Wednesday he will challenge Gov. Martin O’Malley in the Democratic primary.

Owings, 64, focused on the state’s long-running budget problems as a key reason why Maryland Democrats need an alternate candidate. Owings criticized O’Malley for failing to get in front of the budget crisis and addressing it piecemeal once cuts were unavoidable.

“You need to go in earlier, get in front of the curve and then prepare for it,” Owings told reporters after his announcement outside the Calvert County Courthouse. “You just don’t start reacting to an action that’s already taken place. There has to be some forethought.”

Maryland is facing a $2 billion budget deficit in the next fiscal year.

Owings, who spoke to about 100 people outside the courthouse, said he would start looking for savings by seeking out “overlapping duties and responsibilities” in state government. He cited the Maryland Department of the Environment, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the state’s agriculture department as places he would look first.

“There is an absolute duplication of a lot of things that occur,” Owings said. “You need to go back and look at exactly what it is you’re trying to accomplish, what it is you really hope to do in a streamlined manner.”

Owings, who touted his rural political roots, criticized O’Malley for blindsiding Chesapeake Bay watermen with new oyster restrictions in hopes of reviving oyster numbers.

Owings also said the Legislature should have adopted a slot machine gambling plan advocated by Ehrlich, a move that would have had slot machines operational by now and generating millions of dollars for the state.

“The operating budget would be a little bit more stable than it is now,” Owings said.

Owings was a Democratic lawmaker representing Calvert County for 16 years. He joined Ehrlich’s administration as secretary of veterans affairs.

O’Malley defeated Ehrlich in 2006 with 53 percent of the vote, compared to Ehrlich’s 46 percent.

Ehrlich has yet to say whether he plans to run again.

Owings’ work in the Republican administration has made some political observers wonder whether he was jumping into the primary simply to make the race more difficult for O’Malley.

Michael Cain, director of the Center for the Study of Democracy at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, said Owings’ run has “got to be a nuisance to the O’Malley campaign.”

“You have to wonder why he’s running,” Cain said. “Is he trying to weaken O’Malley for someone else?”

Owings told reporters he made up his mind on his own after long thought. If he were to win the Democratic primary and Ehrlich entered the race and won the GOP nomination, Owings said “I guess he and I will shake hands, smile and meet each other in the general.”

Another former Ehrlich cabinet member, Larry Hogan, is running for the Republican nomination. He has said he would withdraw if Ehrlich decides to run.

Tom Russell, O’Malley’s campaign manager, said the governor is focused on doing everything he can do to create jobs and make the tough decisions that have to be made during difficult financial times.

“We look forward to a good campaign later this year against whatever candidates decide to run,” Russell said in a statement.