So unless you've been under a rock today, Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot has decided that he will seek election to a third term as Comptroller in 2014-- not run for Governor. There's an article all about it here.
This is a bit of a surprise, and it is intriguing to speculate as to the reasons why Franchot may have decided on this plan:
-- The Comptroller still sits on the very powerful Maryland Board of Public Works, and can definitely opine to his heart's content about state spending policies. He can become a version of what Comptroller William Donald Schaefer was when Parris Glendening was Governor. Hopefully he'll be more well mannered.
-- In a more political sense, at 65 Franchot would've stood out in a much younger field of Gubernatorial candidates; he may have smelled the demographics cooking and thought the next Governor would be a Gen Xer, not a Baby Boomer.
-- Alternately to the above, maybe he just didn't want the grueling campaign schedule, much less the grueling serving schedule. Though I am guessing being Comptroller is plenty grueling.
-- Also, politically, with three candidates hailing from Montgomery County (Doug Gansler and Heather Mizeur being the other two), Franchot may have seen the writing on the wall and saw too much division of his own base.
So it looks as if Franchot's boat is going back to its safe harbor, which is staying in the Comptroller's Office. It will be interesting to see if and how the cast of characters changes, still with 19 months before the filing deadline.
