Smith Coy About Political Future

Could a return to elected politics be in the cards for one former Baltimore County executive?

Talk has resurfaced in recent weeks that Jim Smith is considering a potential run for governor in 2014.

Smith himself is not saying if the talk is serious.

"I've heard those rumors, too," Smith said when asked about is interest in running.

I asked him if he'd started any of those rumors or been discussing them.

He just smiled and walked away.

Smith still has a sizable warchest—about $629,000, according to the most recent campaign finance report filed in January.

Still, Smith will have some significant challenges to overcome if he's seriously entertaining such a run.

• Out of sight, out of mind. Smith will have been out of elected office since 2010. Four years is a lifetime in elected politics and voters have short-term memories. Those state jobs he was rumored to be up for haven't materialized. and being or probably won't be enough to keep the public focused on his aspirations for higher office.

• His age. Smith will be 72 in 2014 making him the oldest of the (as of now) presumed candidates for governor. If elected, Smith would become the oldest Maryland governor of any sworn-in since 1968. (Can anyone name the oldest governor sworn in since 1968?)

Last month, David Craig, the Republican Harford County executive, citing Smith's age.

"He's done," said Craig, who is also interested in the governor's office in 2014. "He took himself off the board. That would be like me saying Nolan Ryan was coming back to pitch for the Yankees."

Craig would be 65 if he runs making him the third oldest of the presumed candidates behind Smith and Comptroller Peter Franchot.

• Smith might have to overcome the fact that he was county executive who cried candidate twice last year.

First Smith flirted with running for state comptroller and pulled back. Then, he moved from his family home in Reisterstown to a condo in Cockeysville in the 7th Legislative District and hinted strongly that he was going to run for state senate. Days before the filing deadline he told Senate President Thomas V. "Mike" Miller he wasn't going to run for that seat either. Word is Miller was beyond angry (think Krakatoa) and he has a very long memory.

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