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Amid a tide of Republican victories in Maryland, Kevin Kamenetz is one of the Baltimore region's blue survivors.

The Democrat defeated little-known and poorly funded Republican challenger George Harman to win a second term as Baltimore County executive, but he will start that term with a changing landscape all around him a Republican governor, more Republican elected officials in his county and a ring of Republican-led counties around Baltimore.

The political shift spells more uncertainty for Baltimore's Red Line, a proposed mass transit route from Woodlawn in the county to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in east Baltimore City, and continued emphasis by Kamenetz on economic development. Chief on his agenda are revitalization of downtown Towson, redevelopment of the old Sparrows Point steel mill and working to keep the McCormick spice company's headquarters in the county.

Kamenetz, 56, shrugs off the 2014 trend.

"It happens. There are always cycles in politics," he said. "The pendulum always swings back."

This year, the pendulum swung hard to the political right. Harford, Howard and Anne Arundel counties all elected Republican county executives Tuesday; all five of Carroll County's county commissioners are Republican. Baltimore City remains staunchly Democratic, but its leadership was not up for election.

John Bullock, a Towson University political science professor, said Kamenetz is seen as a Democrat who governs from the center, and his focus on economic growth seems to appeal to both parties. That the GOP couldn't muster a strong challenger to face Kamenetz when they did so successfully elsewhere speaks to his stature, Bullock said.

"He's doing a decent job, doing a credible job, and I don't think anyone wanted to step out and challenge him," Bullock said.

The Republican Party didn't concentrate its efforts or dollars trying to unseat Kamenetz. Harman raised less than $16,000 through late October, while Kamenetz started the year with $1 million and had enough money to funnel to other candidates' campaigns. Kamenetz beat Harman 56 percent to 44 percent.

"The focus of the party was to regain the governor's office," said John Fiastro, departing chairman of Baltimore County's Republican Central Committee. Gov.-elect Larry Hogan earned nearly 60 percent of the vote in Baltimore County, a jurisdiction that went for Democrat Gov. Martin O'Malley in 2010.

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Democrat Kamenetz plots a course in the wake of GOP gains

Former U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, a Democrat from western Illinois who became a prominent advocate for veterans causes during 24 years in Congress, died Nov. 5 at a nursing home in East Moline, Ill. He was 63.

Michael Malmstrom, a legal guardian and former staffer, confirmed his death to the Associated Press. Mr. Evans announced in 1998 that he had Parkinsons disease and declined to seek reelection in 2006.

A Marine veteran, Mr. Evans served in Okinawa during the Vietnam War and was a legal services lawyer before running for Congress, his first elective office, in 1982. The district, which includes the Quad Cities along the Mississippi River, was long held by Republicans. Mr. Evans won the seat after the eight-term incumbent, Tom Railsback, was defeated in the GOP primary.

Mr. Evans held the seat for 12 terms despite several competitive Republican challenges an achievement that was credited in part to his reliable constituent services. He was perhaps most outspoken on veterans issues; his brother had served in Vietnam during the Southeast Asian war.

Veterans are the most neglected constituency in the country, Mr. Evans once told the Chicago Tribune. Conservatives are all for them in the armed forces, but when theyre discharged, they forget them. Liberals sometimes have a cultural problem in dealing with them. Im sorry if it disappoints my friends, but I feel a real obligation, particularly since very few others are standing up for the veterans of my country.

He helped lead the Vietnam-era veterans caucus, became ranking Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee and successfully pushed for compensation for military personnel who said they had been harmed by exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam.

After the Persian Gulf War of the early 1990s, Mr. Evans pursued the investigation of the disorder known as Gulf War syndrome. He was credited with advocating for benefits for homeless veterans, research on trauma wounds, and job assistance for servicemen and women.

Following the 1992 election, he narrowly lost a challenge to G.V. Sonny Montgomery (D-Miss.) for the Veterans Affairs Committee chairmanship.

Mr. Evans also was a member of the Armed Services Committee, where he pushed for measures to end the use of land mines.

Lane Allen Evans was born in Rock Island, Ill., on Aug. 4, 1951. His mother was a nurse, and his father, he told The Washington Post, was a firefighter who never got promoted because he was a union organizer.

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Former U.S. Rep. Lane Evans, Illinois Democrat, dies at 63

KALISPELL Democrats picked up a state legislative seat in the GOP stronghold of Flathead County on Tuesday, when a veteran Republican legislator narrowly lost his re-election bid.

Zac Perry defeated Jerry ONeil, a former two-term state senator who was seeking his third term in the Montana House of Representatives, 1,541 to 1,494 in House District 3, which includes Columbia Falls.

ONeil is known for unsuccessfully demanding the state pay his legislator salary in gold and silver after his 2012 re-election, and introducing a bill in 2013 that would have allowed convicted criminals to substitute corporal punishment for prison time.

Perry, who got 48.6 percent of the vote to ONeils 47.1 percent, may have been aided by the presence of a Libertarian candidate. Chris Colvin collected 136 votes in a race decided by 47 votes.

Democrat Ed Lieser also won re-election in HD5 with 55 percent of the vote, downing Doug Adams 2,133 to 1,753 but that was the end of the good news for the Democrats.

Republicans dominated the rest of the dozen legislative districts that are in or part of Flathead County, and in the lone countywide contest where the Democrats put up a candidate, recorded a 2-to-1 win.

***

That would be a county commissioner race that turned nasty at times. Republican Phil Mitchell, who ousted the GOP incumbent in the June primary, collected 66 percent of the vote and beat Democrat Stacey Schnebel 20,471 to 10,400.

Most of the other races were similarly lopsided in the GOPs favor, and the closest ballot issue was one concerning the creation of a special emergency communication district to fund the countys 9-1-1 dispatch center.

That was headed toward a potential recount after unofficial results had it failing by just 72 votes out of more than 30,000 cast. Percentagewise, it was 50.12 percent against, and 49.88 percent in favor.

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Democrat gets rare win in GOP-strong Flathead County

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