With more than five months until the September primary election, Republican Del. John Leopold said Friday he was confident in his chances of becoming his party?s nominee for Anne Arundel County Executive.
“A countywide race for me is an easy race because I already have strong support in the most traditionally Democratic areas,” he told a group of Anne Arundel Community College students.
Leopold has represented District 31, including Glen Burnie, Pasadena and Riviera Beach, for almost 20 years, and was the first Republican to be elected from the traditionally Democratic stronghold.
He said as county executive he would work to improve the public?s trust in county government and bring some of his constituent relations skills to bear on his new position, including establishing a special phone number directly to the county executive?s office for citizen complaints. Leopold has also called for the elimination of some middle management positions to streamline the county?s administration.
“Who is he going to get to answer that line?” asked Democratic challenger Dennis Callahan.
Callahan, currently the county?s director of recreation and parks, has served as mayor of Annapolis and is running against County Sheriff George Johnson in the Democratic primary. Callahan has based his campaign on his administrative experience as a businessman and his success as a political appointee.
“I don?t consider myself a politician,” he said. “I consider myself an executive with strong opinions.”
As a veteran politician, Leopold?s name may be one of the most recognizable out of the field of four other Republicans for some voters, but Callahan said the delegate?s time in the state legislature may not always be an asset.
“Most people can?t tell you who their delegate is,” Callahan said. “The average person takes the time to consider the governor and the county council or executive because those positions most directly affect their lives. If you?re one of 141 people who sit up there and push a green button, people are more likely to vote a straight ticket.”
