Free State Free-for-AII

Baltimore's paunchy three-term Mayor Tommy D'Alesandro was punching hard. "I'm gonna bust their skulls wide open!", cried he of his rivals for Maryland's Democratic senatorial nomination. "You can bet on that." The three other principal candidates were punching too. Candidate Clarence D. Long, an economics professor at Johns Hopkins University, accused D'Alesandro (but later retracted and apologized) of having been "an outspoken admirer of Mussolini." Chimed in Candidate James Bruce, business tycoon and onetime (1947-49) U.S. Ambassador to Argentina: "D'Alesandro's tax policy has been a one-man trapeze act." Snapped Baltimore paving contractor and Perennial Candidate George Mahoney: "Far be it from me to accuse other candidates, but it would be nice if they supplied something more current than wedding and graduation photographs." Thus did the candidates near the end of a free-for-all Free State primary.

Heading into next week's election, Old Pro D'Alesandro was gaining on Old Hopeful Mahoney, with Long and Bruce trailing. But the bitterness of the campaign indicated that recent Maryland history might repeat itself when it came time to face Republican Incumbent J. Glenn Beall in November. Although Maryland was long considered a Democratic state, the Democrats have not won a statewide election since 1946, mostly because of the Democratic splits caused by primary free-for-alls.

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