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With three attorney general candidates tied for second place behind Karl Racine, Edward “Smitty” Smith floated the idea of two of his rivals dropping out of the race.
Smitty’s campaign approached Lorie Masters and Paul Zukerberg staffers last week to start talks about dropping out of the race, according to Smitty campaign manager John Rodriguez. The move was prompted by the Washington City Paper/Kojo Nnamdi Show poll that shows Racine leading with 22 percent while Smitty, Masters, and Zukerberg received 13, 12, and 11 percent respectively.
“We have like minds in terms of standing up to the same-old, same-old and the powers-that-be,” Rodriguez says.
Talking to LL, Rodriguez declines to say the obvious intention of this idea: consolidating the anti-Racine vote. But Zukerberg campaign manager Lenox Ramsey Jr. isn’t so evasive, saying that none of the three campaigns wants to see Racine win.
“We wanted to see if there was an opportunity for the greater good of the city—-or they did—-to see if there was an opportunity for all of us to align,” says Ramsey.
Still, Zukerberg isn’t dropping out. Neither is Masters, whose campaign debuted a new TV ad today that goes tough on Zukerberg and Racine. Masters spokeswoman Allison Abney says the campaign did “not even remotely” consider Smitty’s plan.
Correction: Due to a reporting error, this column initially misspelled Lenox Ramsey Jr.’s last name on second reference.
Photo by Darrow Montgomery