The convoluted process of selecting a candidate to fulfill the unfinished term of late Delegate Bennett Bozman should be completed by mid-June. There is no lack of candidates for the job. The 69-year-old state legislator died on April 27, 2006.

Grappling for the job will be a collection of experienced Democrats who operate in all corners of Worcester County, from Pocomoke City to Ocean City. Since Del. Bozman was a Democrat his replacement will come from the same party.

Insiders in the Democratic Party are speculating about a number of potential candidates. At the moment, the names being bandied about as possible successors are Joe Jackson, of Pocomoke City, who some believe was planning to succeed Commissioner John E. “Sonny” Bloxom on the Worcester County Board of Commissioners; Steve Hales, clerk of the court from Ocean City; Shirley Pilchard, from Snow Hill, who once served in the legislature to finish the term held by her husband when he died; and Lou Taylor, the popular principal of Stephen Decatur High School.

“Any of these would make excellent candidates,” said Ocean City Councilwoman Nancy Howard, who said she would not be a candidate for the vacated seat.

The field could be even larger if other potential candidates, like former NAACP leader Eddie Lee, former Ocean City Councilwoman Erin Fitzsimmons, and even Ocean City Mayor James Mathias decide to throw their hats into the ring. No one has announced his or her candidacy yet.

Bozman represented Worcester County and the eastern section of Wicomico County since 1991 and was deputy majority whip in the House of Delegates for 11 years. At the time of his death he was a member of the Ways and Means Committee and chairman of the Sub-Committee on Education and the Joint Committee on Federal Relations.

A graduate pharmacist who served for eight years in the U.S. Coast Guard, Mr. Bozman, was a Worcester County Commissioner before being elected to the General Assembly. He was described “as a person who knew how to get things done in Annapolis.”

Those seeking to fill the vacancy must make their intentions known by application to the Worcester County Democratic Central Committee by May 12. The Worcester group will then meet with its counterpart, the Wicomico County Democratic Central Committee, and by May 26 jointly submit their selection to the governor.