Local challengers have difficult task | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

Campaigns run with no outside funding, limited ties to the wider districts and miniscule media attention seem certain to spell defeat.

"If you're serious about running for office, you have to show you're somewhat viable as a candidate," said retired state senator Phil Jimeno of Brooklyn Park.

That means joining community associations, educating yourself on the issues and what Mr. Jimeno calls a necessary evil - raising money. The starting point for most campaigns is a quarter of a million dollars.

"We had a lot of spaghetti dinners, a lot of bake sales," Mr. Jimeno said, recalling his start in 1978. "Today, you can't bull roast your way into the amount of money it takes to run a campaign."

But the chances of success haven't kept several county residents from trying. Only one is guaranteed to move on to November.

In the 2nd Congressional District, neither Republican Richard Pryce Matthews of Orchard Beach nor five-term incumbent Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger of Timonium face a primary contest.

Mr. Matthews, 27, decided to challenge Mr. Ruppersberger, when no other Republicans stepped up. He's raised no money, and knows he faces a difficult task.

"It's a huge challenge, a huge uphill challenge," Mr. Matthews said. "But I couldn't live with myself if (Ruppersberger) was left to run totally unopposed."

He wants to use his position as Anne Arundel County's organizer for the Ron Paul presidential campaign to attract national attention.

And money. Mr. Matthews recently set up a Web site and a bank account for his campaign. Mr. Ruppersberger, meanwhile, marches into the race with $565,000 in donations.

A staunch advocate of small government, Mr. Matthews registered Libertarian when he became old enough to vote. But several years ago, the state switched all Libertarians' party affiliations to Independent because there weren't enough registered voters.

Mr. Matthews switched to Republican in early 2007 because he wanted to be able to vote in the primary.

"I'm a regular guy. I've always been told I'm honest to a fault," Mr. Matthews said. "That might not make me a very good politi-

-cian, but hopefully that will make me a good congressman."

If history is any guide, John Rea seems unlikely to get as far as Mr. Matthews in the 3rd Congressional District Democratic primary.

The Annapolis resident has run unsuccessfully six times for Congress and twice for local office.

He faces first-term Rep. John Sarbanes of Baltimore. The son of former U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes, he will be defending the seat he inherited from U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin.

"He did absolutely nothing to earn the job," said Mr. Rea, who works for a printing company in Baltimore. "He got it because his father was the senator. Meanwhile, John Rea has been plugging away at this for 20 years."

Mr. Sarbanes faced similar criticism in his first election campaign in 2006, when he beat a well-funded campaign by Annapolis-area Republican John White.

The 3rd District covers sections of Baltimore city and parts of Anne Arundel, Baltimore and Howard counties.

With no outside funding, Mr. Rea has spent his campaign time knocking on doors to explain his key issues, which include an expansion of Medicare and Medicaid plans and health insurance for everyone - especially senior citizens.

"We owe the senior citizens more in this country," he said.

In the GOP primary in the district, four candidates hope to win the right to face Mr. Sarbanes in November.

Paul Spause of Elkridge is seen by many as the leading Republican challenger. He has only raised $3,000 going into the primary, dwarfed by Mr. Sarbanes' nearly $800,000 haul.

Two Anne Arundel County residents are running.

Verizon technician Christopher Panasuk of Glen Burnie describes himself a Ron Paul supporter and recovered drug addict who wants to return the country to its constitutional foundation.

They are joined by political novices John Stafford of Jessup and Thomas A. "Pinkston" Harris of Baltimore.

"When I went to the state board of elections office, there was no one on the ballot. I was not going to allow Sarbanes to get that seat uncontested. I don't believe even with a Harvard education that he knows the Constitution very well," Mr. Panasuk said.

Mr. Panasuk lists his main issues as government spending, immigration, and working toward getting the government within its constitutional boundaries.

He would work to abolish the U.S. Department of Education and simplify the tax code.

Mr. Stafford, who would only answer questions by e-mail, expressed several extreme stances on abortion, the presidential race and women that made him stand out among local candidates.

"Women go by 'feelings,' not so much principles or logic. Their minds and talents are also different because they were carefully designed by God that way. Show me the great women mathematicians. They do not exist. How about great women who are mothers? Billions. I rest my case," he wrote.

But he touted his vision as the reason he should win on Tuesday.

"I can think 'outside the box' and often do. I am decades ahead on policy from environment to civil rights," he wrote.

Despite their varying viewpoints on the issues, all of the challengers have one thing in common, according to political observers.

"They are hoping for the incumbent to make some horrible mistake and as long as you don't pour too much money into it, then it's not that big of a risk," said Dr. James G. Gimpel, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, College Park.

"There are instances where incumbents have been discovered to be scoundrels. You never know when you can be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of something like that."

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Staff Writer Andrew Childers contributed to this story.