ANNAPOLIS — Former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and as many as a dozen delegates are hoping 2010 is the Year of the Comeback.

"I think there are definitely folks like me who have been there, done that, are frustrated by what they see and think they can play a role in the solution," said Alfred W. Redmer Jr., a former House minority leader who left the General Assembly in 2003 to become Maryland insurance commissioner.

After five years of sitting on the political sideline as a health care executive and now running his own financial services firm, Redmer is vying for the seat being vacated by Sen. Andrew P. Harris (R-Dist. 7) of Cockeysville, who is running for Congress.

Launching a comeback bid 20 years after being first elected was a simple decision, Redmer said.

"It's the insatiable appetite to spend money, the inability to not raise taxes and what I view to be the complete and total disregard of the business community as the reasons that got me into this," he said.

Others have similar frustrations that have motivated them to get back in the saddle.

"We're starting to act like Washington, and that really worries me," said David G. Boschert, a former two-term delegate from Anne Arundel County who gave up his seat in 2006 to run unsuccessfully for county executive.

Nearly four years as a private citizen has given him the proper perspective to try to reclaim his delegate seat, he said. "I've got my feet back on the ground and understand the frustrations that are out there."

And it is not just dissatisfaction with current government that is pushing former politicians back to the campaign trail.

"A passion for public service isn't something you grow out of or get over," said Cheryl C. Kagan, a former two-term delegate who is challenging Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville in the September primary election.

Few politicians have had as long a hiatus between stints as Del. Luiz R.S. Simmons.

He served in the House from 1979 to 1983 before a failed bid for Montgomery County executive. In 2003, Simmons returned to the chamber where his political career began.

"When I got there in 2003, it was like [opening] a time capsule," he joked.

His return was not long-planned. It was more of a coincidence, he said, that Kagan vacated her seat that year, and he unexpectedly received the support of the local teachers' union.

"We used to have sweatshirts back in 1979 that said, ‘There is life after legislature,'" he recalled. "The joke for me was there is legislature after life."

Another benefit to a gap in elected office is the chance to recapture the real-world viewpoint that is easy to lose when you spend so much time in the State House bubble, said Kagan, who has remained involved in politics and as a nonprofit leader since leaving office.

"It's very insular and it's easy for an incumbent officeholder to lose touch with the community's priorities," she said.

For Redmer, he now is able to view things through the prism of a small entrepreneur trying to make ends meet.

"When you walk away from it for a few years, real life gets driven home again," he said.

Similar comeback attempts will play out in other areas of the state.

Two are running for statewide office: Former Del. George W. Owings III is waging an uphill battle for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and former Del. Carmen M. Amedori is the running mate of long-shot Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Murphy.

Former GOP Dels. Herbert H. McMillan, Patrick N. Hogan and John W.E. Cluster Jr. are all planning to try to win back their seats. Kenneth C. Holt, another Republican ex-delegate, last week entered the race for Baltimore County executive. Former Del. Rushern L. Baker III is taking his third crack at the top job in Prince George's County, while former state Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan, a four-term GOP delegate, is gearing up to run for Howard County Council.

Even more comeback attempts could emerge before the 2010 field is set.

"Most of us who have a passion for making a difference and serving the public don't ever lose that feeling," Kagan said.

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