Climax On The Shore:Will an incumbent run for re-election

If you are looking for political drama in Maryland, you could watch Annapolis. Keep in mind that it is not as much fun as it use to be over the past four years. If you want excitement, focus your attention on the Eastern Shore. In the nearly six months since I started covering politics statewide, I have been keeping tabs on Salsibury, Wicomico County, based on a couple of emails and what I read on the Salisbury News blog.

A panning of the comments on the blog, you could assume that the Salisbury City Council is unpopular. One thing that is for sure, there is almost always a line between Councilmember Debbie Campbell and the four other members. By the way the four other members are Council President Mike Dunn, Council Vice President Gary Comegys, Shanie DeShields and Lynn Cathcart. Good News for Campbell is that this is an election year, and three people on the list are up for re-election.

Cathcart said that she wasn’t going to run for a second term. Comegys has decided to run for a second term against five challengers at last check. The big question in Wicomico is will Mike Dunn run for re-election. If he is, Dunn might have to pick up the pace because the filing deadline is this coming Wednesday at 4:30p.m.

Joe Albero, writer of the Salisbury News blog says in his opinion that Dunn is not, a point that I admit is arguable. When Comegys announced his re-election campaign, Dunn said he would be backing him 100 percent. If you are one to read into quotes, then you can assume that Dunn is in fact not running for re-election. No formal announcement has been made and as a political observer, the suspense is killing me.

There is a lock on at least one fresh face on the council. The five challengers are Tim Spies, Terry Cohen, Louise Smith and John S. Harris and Don Ewalt. Ewalt is the latest addition to what is now starting to become a crowded race, which can possibly turn to a standing room only if Dunn does in fact decide to run.

So stay tuned to your favorite news outlets from the shore as we get ready to watch “Run or No Run.”

P. Kenneth Burns is a journalist and broadcaster based in Laurel. He is the writer/editor of Maryland Politics Today.