Baltimore Mayor Schmoke Says He May Run for Governor

STATE ELECTIONS March 1993

Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke, 43, a Democrat, said he is exploring a run for the Maryland governorship in 1994 (Richard Tapscott, "Schmoke Casts Eye on Annapolis: Baltimore Mayor May Run for Governor," Washington Post, 2/26/93, D1).

Surveys have shown Schmoke has considerably more name recognition than other likely candidates, and would enter the race as the front runner, according to Mason-Dixon Political/Media Research Inc. As a former prosecutor, a graduate of both Yale and Harvard universities, and a Rhodes Scholar, the soft-spoken and generally nonconfrontational Schmoke created a national uproar when he called for a debate on the merits of legalizing drugs during a speech to the National Conference of Mayors in 1988.

Schmoke, a Baltimore native, was re-elected to a second term in November 1991, beating his opponent by a more than 2-to-1 margin four years after he became the city's first elected black mayor. His controversial views on drug legalization did not become an issue during the 1991 campaign.