Supporter calls for Blaine Young mayoral write-in campaign

Oct. 20—A familiar name is considering a return to Frederick politics ... sort of.

Supporters of Blaine Young, a former county commissioner and city alderman, are organizing a write-in campaign in the city's November mayoral election.

Young said Monday the effort was being organized by Hayden Duke — a former candidate for alderman and longtime participant in local politics and government. Young said he planned to keep his job and serve as a part-time mayor if elected.

Young said he would bring in Barry Stanton, who worked as county manager when Young was president of the Board of County Commissioners, to manage the day-to-day affairs of the city as chief administrative officer, or what Young termed a "deputy mayor."

If elected, Young would serve one term and not accept any compensation from the city, he said.

Young had earlier considered a run for mayor but expressed hesitancy about leaving his job as vice president of franchise sales and business development at NaturaLawn of America.

"I have absolutely NO interest in a political career," Young said in a follow-up email Monday. "I have a career and work family I love very much. That is why I did not file."

And he sounded less than optimistic about his chances, saying people don't realize the almost insurmountable odds of organizing a write-in campaign.

Young believes a lot of Republicans in the city feel disenfranchised, like they don't have anyone to vote for.

The Republican candidate, Steven Hammrick, faces an indictment on assault and weapons charges for an incident in July in which he allegedly pointed a rifle at a group of people during a confrontation at his apartment complex.

Hammrick told the News-Post last week that the charges are politically motivated due to his run for mayor.

Young and Hammrick face Democratic incumbent mayor Michael O'Connor and former mayor Jennifer Dougherty, who is running her own write-in campaign as a Democrat.

Duke said the charges against Hammrick, as well as his lack of participation in a campaign, were his reasons for mounting the write-in campaign for Young, as was a desire not to see O'Connor have a clear path to re-election.

While Young was often controversial while in office, Duke said he solves the biggest challenge of a write-in campaign, which is name recognition.

"They may have an opinion of him, but everybody knows him," Duke said.

While Duke said he would prefer a full-time mayor, Young's plan not to leave his day job wasn't a deal breaker.

"I would rather have Blaine as a part-time mayor than Michael O'Connor as a full-time mayor," Duke said.

Young served as an alderman from 1997 to 2001, and his father, State Sen. Ron Young (D-Frederick), was the city's mayor from 1974 to 1990.

Blaine Young was president of the Board of County Commissioners from 2010 to 2014 and ran unsuccessfully for county executive in 2014.

Serving as a Democrat as an alderman and a Republican as commissioner, Young said he's now registered as unaffiliated.

Aside from Hammrick's legal problems, Young would bring his own baggage to City Hall.

He was implicated in the city's "Black Book" prostitution scandal as an alderman and arrested for soliciting a prostitute in Anne Arundel County in 2016, for which he received probation before judgement.

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