As the dust settles around last month's contentious race for governor, and Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley prepares for the move to Annapolis next year, city politicians are doing what they do after every election - getting ready for another one.
With O'Malley preparing to ascend to the governor's mansion nearly 11 months out of next year's race for mayor, politicians across the city -- including City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke -- have begun to emerge as potential candidates in what many believe will be a wide-open election.
Clarke, a controversial figure for her role in some of the University's most intense struggles with the community, has often been mentioned as a potential candidate. And the speculation surrounding the race has only intensified now that O'Malley will be leaving office next year.
Though most campaign contributors have donated as much as they legally can this year to candidates in the high-stakes races for governor and U.S. Senate, some of the city's biggest names have been scrounging together valuable campaign dollars before the fundraising intensifies in January.
City Council President Sheila Dixon, who will replace O'Malley until at least 2008, leads the field with more than $278,000 -- a strong financial edge that will only add to the advantage she is guaranteed by incumbency.
Clarke -- who has twice led the council as its president and launched an unsuccessful bid for mayor in 1995 - has not received a single contribution since 2004.
As for whether that means she's bowing out, Clarke took the same tact as most of her potential competitors.
"I'm just not at a point where I'm ready to talk about that yet," she said.
But Arthur Murphy, partner at Annapolis-based consulting firm The Democracy Group, didn't think Clarke would end up running.
"She's not interested," he said, instead naming some of Dixon's biggest would-be rivals, including Comptroller Joan Pratt -- who has already declared her candidacy -- and City Councilman Keiffer Mitchell, Jr.
Matthew Crenson, professor of political science at Hopkins and a veteran of Baltimore City politics, said the race hadn't reached the point yet where candidates with lower profiles and less money -- such as Clarke -- could be ruled out.
"That's probably not going to happen for a little while," he said. "The primary is still ten months off, and a lot of things can happen between now and then."
Clarke agreed, adding that Dixon's substantial monetary advantage didn't mean any of her potential competitors could be sidelined just yet.
"I wouldn't take it that way," she said. "We're at the end of a cycle here, and most contributors are maxed out."
Even as Dixon -- long considered O'Malley's heir-apparent -- looms over the race with the most money and greatest name-recognition, outsiders like Clarke have been mentioned as potential dark horses in a race that is bound to be unpredictable.
"Obviously there are people out there who are ready to give her some competition," Crenson said, referring to Mitchell, Pratt and City Councilman Kenneth Harris, Sr., whose fundraising efforts have been as minimal as Clarke's despite consistent speculation that he might run.
Clarke said it would take until at least next year to see the race begin to materialize within the council -- specifically between Mitchell and Harris, two of its most popular members.
"I haven't seen much," she said, "I think it's early. It'll be after the first of the year that you'll see anything."
Many of the potential candidates, including Clarke, probably won't make their decisions until early next year, when renewed fundraising efforts and a clean slate for contributors are likely to provide a clearer picture of an already crowded field.
