Mayoral candidate Catherine E. Pugh confronts Rev. Dr. Alvin Gwynn, president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, following its endorsement today of Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Photo by: Mark Reutter

What was meant to be a harmonious endorsement this afternoon of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake’s mayoral run by a prominent group of black clergy ended in confrontation as another mayoral hopeful angrily denounced the group’s endorsement process.

Shortly after the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance (IMA) concluded a press conference endorsing Rawlings-Blake, Catherine E. Pugh stormed into the meeting room at Friendship Baptist Church and delivered a tongue-lashing to alliance president Rev. Dr. Alvin J. Gwynn Sr.

“Never in the history of the Alliance have you not had a candidates’ forum ahead of time. You have always allowed all of the candidates to speak to you before making an endorsement. I only heard about this a half hour ago. Why are you doing this?” Pugh asked Gwynn as he stood at the podium of the just-concluded meeting.

A dozen feet away Mayor Rawlings-Blake talked to aides before leaving the room without approaching Pugh or Gwynn. Moments earlier she had finished a speech accepting the group’s endorsement, saying she was “so very proud to have the faith leaders of the city I love stand with me.”

Mayor Rawlings-Blake addresses the Ministerial Alliance following its endorsement of her bid for mayor. (Photo by Mark Reutter)

Rev. Gwynn was being interviewed by this reporter when Pugh, a state senator from Baltimore’s 40th District, approached the podium and addressed him.

Gwynn acknowledged that the 75-year-old Ministerial Alliance had always invited candidates for elected city positions to speak before the group before endorsing a candidate for office.

But he said the alliance had settled on backing Rawlings-Blake at a meeting in June 2010, or more than a year ago. Because of this prior commitment, he said it would be “hypocritical” for the group to interview other mayoral candidates because the Alliance had already made up its mind.

Gwynn told Pugh he had talked to Otis Rolley, another candidate for mayor, earlier today and Rolley had agreed with him that it would be inappropriate for the alliance to interview other candidates.

Among the 14 ministers present at today's endorsement was the mayor's pastor, Rev. Sheridan Todd Yeary (center) of Douglas Memorial Community Church. (Photo by Mark Reutter)

Reached this afternoon, Rolley told The Brew that he had a different recollection of the phone exchange with Rev. Gwynn.

“I was not satisfied or ‘cool’ about what they did. I requested that they reconsider and that I deserved at least to be interviewed before they endorsed a candidate for mayor.”

Gwynn told Rolley (as well as Pugh) that there were simply too many candidates for mayor and time would not permit the Alliance to interview them all. (There are six Democrats and two Republicans running in the Sept. 13 primary.)

Rolley said, “I pointed out to [Gwynn] that I was the first candidate to file for mayor. My candidacy was a well-known fact six months ago in January when Bill Cosby came to my fundraiser. And further, I told him that [Rawlings-Blake] did not officially file for mayor until last week.”

Alliance Promised  Rawlings-Blake an Endorsement

Gwynn said that the Ministerial Alliance had actually committed itself to Rawlings-Blake 13 months ago at the June 1, 2010 meeting

At the meeting, he said, he and four other members of the Alliance “reached out” to Rawlings-Blake, who had become mayor several months earlier following Sheila Dixon’s resignation after her conviction on a corruption charge.

“She [Rawlings-Blake] had a lot on her plate,” Gwynn said, and the ministers pledged to help her make the city a better place.

He said that as part of the discussions, the group committed itself to endorse her run for mayor in 2011, which, while not official, was widely expected.

Pugh and Rolley said they never knew about this endorsement.

Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown's appearance before the Alliance signaled the repair of the group's once strained relationship with Martin O'Malley. (Photo by Mark Reutter)

An aide to Pugh said she was informed of today’s endorsement only when a minister from the alliance called her after 12 noon today and said she should get over to Friendship Church in a hurry.

She arrived about 1:30, after the speeches by Gwynn, Rawlings-Blake and Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown were over.

In his speech endorsing Rawlings-Blake, Gwynn cited several examples of her leadership as mayor.

Prominent among them was her support of the “Superblock” mixed-use project at Howard and Lexington streets, advocacy of State Center redevelopment, push for the Red Line and her “vacants to value” program for addressing abandoned housing.

Lt. Gov. Brown lauded Rawlings-Blake for keeping Baltimore on the right track. “Maryland’s future is bright because Baltimore’s future is bright because of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake,” he said.

In her remarks, Rawlings-Blake cited her commitment to better schools and neighborhoods, and pledged to “lead the city with honesty and integrity and always, always, do the right thing, even if it isn’t popular.”

O’Malley’s “Political Nemesis”

The attendance by Brown marks the continuing rapprochement between the Ministerial Alliance and now-Gov. Martin O’Malley.

The group had opposed O’Malley during his successful runs for mayor of Baltimore in 1999 and 2003 and was dubbed “O’Malley’s political nemesis” by the Baltimore Sun’s former political reporter Doug Donovan.

One of O’Malley’s biggest supporters during his 1999 run for mayor was state Delegate Howard P. “Pete” Rawlings, the father of the current mayor. Then a city councilman, Rawlings-Blake was widely credited with convincing her father to support O’Malley.

In a brief interview, Brown said the Alliance and the O’Malley administration had been friendly for many years and the organization had endorsed his latest run for governor.

The Ministerial Alliance bills itself as a federation of activist clergy “which advocates in solidarity with marginalized communities both locally and globally.”

Rev. Gwynn said the Alliance has about 60 active church members. This is down from a reported 200 churches in the Alliance a decade ago.