Wait, you mean he really did file?

It's true: John Leopold filed to run for County Executive today, turning back the course of twenty years of political history where Leopold avoided the tough fights.

What is odd about the timing is that just last week, Leopold told some party insiders that he was going to abandon the County Executive race in order to run for State Senate. Why Leopold was again wishy-washy on the issue, who actually knows. But Leopold has been one of many local politicians who have flip-flopped on their plans:

• Democrat Matt McBride first filed to run for the House of Delegates in District 31, then decided to try his hand in the Senate race after Senator Jimeno's retirement.
• Don Dwyer, of course, filed to run for Delegate, announced his run for Senate, changed his mind, went off to Europe, skipped the BGE vote, and then came back and announced his retreat.
• Today, Dwyer's brother-in-law and District 30 sidekick Les Belcher withdrew from the State Senate race today (avoiding a primary loss to Delegate Herb McMillan) in order to enter the District 30 House jumble. (Maybe withdrawals run in the family...)
• Environmentalist and contrarian Councilwoman Barbara Samorajczyk was going to run for County Executive, endorsed George Johnson instead, and today she too filed to run for Delegate in District 30.
• Dirk Haire made a big splash when he announced his candidacy for County Executive in 2004, promising to raise gobs and gobs of money. Haire quit the race in May 2005.
• Councilman Bill Burlison announced his run for Congress in District 3, started going door-to-door, and decided to withdraw after having his car stolen.

I think this year is more of an anomaly than anything else. Frankly, 2006 has been a wacky year for candidates running for offices, and for what offices they file. Often, candidates drop into the race and quietly drop out. Occasionally, an incumbent will run for another seat when an unexpected vacancy presents itself. They tend not to drop out of one race to enter another, nor do they usually enter a race full of bravado and bluster only to quietly fade away long before the race really gets started.

There is one more day, July 3rd, to file for office. I wonder who will be left standing at the end of the day. And who knows, there are still three more days for John Leopold to change his mind...