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Bane pulls ahead in sheriff's race

Jeff Gahler runs strong in north county

By Kristen Dize and Allan Vought

Posted 11/02/10

(Enlarge) Jesse Bane supporters Renee Marchand, left, shows the crowd gathered at Enotria in Forest Hill the current numbers Tuesday evening as Anne Tyler checks the web for any changes. (Photo by Matt Button | Aegis staff)

Incumbent Harford County Sheriff L. Jesse Bane won re-election Tuesday, prevailing in a general election race whose outcome was closer than expected.

With all of the county’s precincts reporting and less than 4,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted, Bane had 45,164 votes to 42,606 for Gahler, a 51.4 percent to 48.5 percent margin for Bane.

Both candidates expressed confidence in their chances when interviewed around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday when about half the votes from the general election had been reported.

“I’m feeling good,” Bane said during an election night party at a Forest Hill restaurant. “Well, right now we’re ahead and I think I’m going to win.”

Though Gahler had seen early results that showed him trailing by several percentage points, he said, “I know we’re going to make up some of that ground. It’s comforting to know it’s over and in the hands of the people tabulating the results.”

“I feel good about it,” he added.

In the early voting last week, Bane received 53.6 percent of the more than 10,800 votes cast to 46.3 percent for Gahler.

But as results from Tuesday’s voting began to trickle in, the race tightened up almost immediately, a surprise to some because it was believed Bane was going to get a crossover Republican vote.

Then, as results came in later from a number of precincts in the heavily Democratic Route 40 corridor, Bane pulled away.

The county board of elections had received about 3,500 absentee ballots as of late Tuesday afternoon, election director Jim Massey said.

Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and officials will start counting them at 10 a.m. Thursday. There will also be a second round of counting on Nov. 12. Provisional ballots will be canvassed Nov. 10. For overseas military or civilian ballots, counting will begin Nov. 22.

About a month ago, Bane, 62, of Fallston, received the endorsements of both unions representing deputies and corrections officers. The endorsements were fuel for Bane’s campaign, although Gahler did not take them as the kiss of death and continued with a sense of hope in his hard fought campaign.

Gahler, 45, of Bel Air, is a career state trooper who has spent the majority of his 26 years in law enforcement in Harford County.

Despite his experience with the county, law enforcement and heading one of the few departments in Maryland State Police with its own budget, Gahler is an outsider to the sheriff’s office when compared to Bane.

Bane has spent more than 40 years with the sheriff’s office and has had a number of successes during his time as sheriff.

Bane said a reduced crime rate and diminished gang violence are two of his major accomplishments.

Bane has taken credit for being one of the first county officials to address a growing gang problem when he took office in 2006, although his opponents inside and out of law enforcement have disputed some of those claims.

Gahler said he would conduct a full inventory of the sheriff’s office and make sure that anyone trained to wear a gun and make arrests would be returned to patrolling the streets of Harford County.

Gahler also believed he would be the answer to what he said is a growing morale problem inside the sheriff’s office.