Keating, 59, said he has failed to generate enough interest to warrant a campaign. “I’ve been unable to light any fires under anybody,” said Keating, who lost a bid for state’s attorney last year. “It made no sense to waste my summer.”
Last month, Carl Stokes, a former city councilman and school board member, declined to run for mayor, opting to run for the council presidency. State Sen. Joan Carter Conway, State’s Attorney Patricia C. Jessamy and city Comptroller Joan Pratt also have decided against mayoral bids.
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The remaining challengers to O’Malley include Andrey Bundley, 42, principal of the city’s Walbrook High Uniform Services Academy; Marvin Ray Jones, 55; A. Robert Kaufman, 72, a socialist activist; Charles U. Smith, 53, a one-time candidate for Congress; and Dominque Stevenson, 38, co-director of a social justice center.
O’Malley and Council President Sheila Dixon, who is seeking re-election, are expected to announce three union endorsements today.
The unions are District 1199E-DC, Service Employees International Union, the state’s largest union of health care workers; SEIU Local 82, whose members are building service workers; and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 7. The announcement is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. at SEIU’s hall, 611 Eutaw St.
“We have endorsed Mayor O’Malley and Council President Dixon because they have been working hard to create more jobs for city residents and to make sure service workers in Baltimore earn enough to provide themselves and their families with everything they need to build bright futures,” Robert Moore, president of District 1199E-DC, said in a statement.