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Owings sets sights on next step
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by DARWIN WEIGEL
George Owings III, right, former Maryland veterans affairs director and former delegate, talks with Del. Justin Ross (D-Prince George's) at the Calvert County Democratic Central Committee's 11th annual Louis L. Goldstein Dinner on Thursday at the Rod 'N' Reel Restaurant in Chesapeake Beach. Owings is the subject of many rumors about his career and whether he will return to politics.
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ANNAPOLIS — Not long after Veterans Affairs Secretary George W. Owings III was let go from the job he cherished several months into Gov. Martin O'Malley's term, his political future came into question.
Would he seek to re-enter elected office, play a behind-the-scenes role or fade quietly into retirement?
"My political involvement will consist of voting in every election," Owings said in September 2007.
Now at 63 and still exhibiting the same gregarious personality that made him one of the more popular and colorful members of the General Assembly during his 16 years as a state delegate, Owings is starting to rethink his options.
The most radical scenario — and one that has State Circle buzzing — has Owings weighing a primary challenge to O'Malley (D). Some observers said they've heard the chain-smoking, Harley-Davidson-riding Vietnam veteran from Southern Maryland was even contemplating running as a Republican.
Owings, a former House majority whip, declined to address the speculation of a gubernatorial bid, but said he was keeping his political options open. And he reaffirmed his commitment to the Democratic Party, of which he has been a lifelong member.
"Now that I've had a cooling off [period], I'm looking to get back into public life as I miss it having been involved in it for the last 30 years," Owings said last week. "At this point, there's a lot of options open."
But the rumor raising eyebrows in Annapolis and Calvert County, is the possibility that he's going after O'Malley.
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., a longtime ally of Owings, believes he has a future in politics as a Democrat, but suggested that challenging O'Malley would be seen as a sign of bitterness at being removed from his Cabinet post.
Miller (D-Calvert, Prince George's) said he lobbied O'Malley to keep Owings as a member of his Cabinet, "but the governor wanted his own team."
He hopes Owings does not let that drive his political decision. "There's certainly room for him in the Democratic Party, but what he chooses to do is up for grabs."
Owings said he does not hold any grudges against O'Malley, adding that he was honored to stay on through the first few months of his administration.
Miller noted that he offered to buy Owings a ticket to last week's annual Louis L. Goldstein Dinner in Chesapeake Beach, but said he decided to buy his own.
"He wants to be independent of the Democratic Party at this point in time," Miller said.
Owings is still revered at home for his folksy demeanor and his conservative Democratic stances, said Calvert County Democratic Central Committee Chairman Christopher Reynolds.
But he said Owings told him that an upcoming announcement about what office he would seek would upset him. Challenging the governor would "put some folks in a very uncomfortable position between having to choose between Martin O'Malley and a fellow we know very well and regard highly," Reynolds said.
There had been some speculation that Owings might seek to reclaim the legislative seat he gave up in 2004. But the success of Del. Sue Kullen makes that unlikely, especially because Owings has spoken highly of his successor's performance.
She suggested that some of Owings' GOP allies — he remains close with former Republican Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. — might be influencing his political decision. "I would not want him to be used by the Republican Party," said Kullen (D-Calvert). "I love George, but I can't see him in the governor's mansion."
Some local Democrats are even encouraging Owings go back to his local roots and run for county commissioner in 2010. Owings' first foray in elected office was an unsuccessful bid for commissioner in 1978.
He was elected to the local Democratic Central Committee in 1985.
One thing seems certain to Reynolds: Owings isn't likely to hang up his political spurs.
"It's hard to imagine at this stage in his life and career that George would just want to sit in a rocking chair and watch life roll on by," he said.
