Maryland’s stunned political class was busy Thursday publicly mourning the sudden death of Baltimore County Executive Kevin B. Kamenetz (D), who died overnight from a heart attack at the age of 60.
But behind the scenes, these same people were equally busy burning up the phone lines, floating rumors and testing theories, as they struggled to figure out the implications of Kamenetz’s swift exit from the scene on two critical elections, for governor and for county executive.
Kamenetz, a political animal himself, would surely have enjoyed the dichotomy, as his fellow pols answered their phones with a clipped, “What are you hearing?” while simultaneously issuing flowery statements about the departed leader’s passion for public service and his family.
The late Baltimore County executive Kevin B. Kamenetz and his running mate, Valerie Ervin, stump at a Silver Spring coffee shop earlier this year. Photo by Bruce DePuyt
