Mayor Schaefer?

This past election was a historic one for the state of Maryland. William Donald Schaefer failed to get re-elected for the first time in 51 years. He began his career in Baltimore, on the Baltimore City Council in 1955 where he became its president in 1967. In 1971 he was first elected Mayor of Baltimore where he served until elected governor of Maryland in 1986. In 1998 he suceeded Louis Goldstein as Comtroller of Maryland.

Now he is telling WBAL that he is not ruling out another run for the mayor's office, arguably one in which he was most popular. He admitted his age (85) was a factor and said he was waiting for "divine intervention" to know whether or not to proceed.

The picture above is a now famous photograph of Schaefer in an old fashioned striped bathing suit posing with a mermaid in the then new Baltimore Aquarium.

Schaefer's recent defeat surely ushered in the close of an era in Baltimore and in Maryland.