look at pretty women is the day I die." (Schaefer long called the women with whom he worked "little girls.") However, within days of the leering incident, Schaefer issued a handwritten letter to Krum informing her she had handled the affair as a "trouper." On July 5, 2006, Schaefer launched into a rambling commentary on immigration as the public works board considered a contract to provide testing services for the English as a Second Language (ESOL) program in Maryland schools. As state education officials tried to explain the contract, Schaefer demanded to know whether the program would benefit Korean students. "Korea's another one, all of a sudden they're our friends, too, shooting missiles at us", he said. Schaefer was apparently referring to North Korea's test launch earlier that week of a long-range missile, which fell into the ocean. Schaefer refused to apologize for his comments after a meeting with South Korean community leaders. Later that same day, when he was questioned by a female Baltimore Sun reporter about the ESOL program, Schaefer's response was to call her a "sweet little girl." 2006 re-election campaign Schaefer faced a competitive primary challenge for Comptroller in 2006. He was challenged by Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens and Delegate Peter Franchot (District 20). The campaign initially looked like a struggle between Schaefer and Franchot. After deciding against running for the U.S. House seat being vacated by Benjamin Cardin (so that Cardin could run for the U.S. Senate), Owens decided to jump into the race for Comptroller. In early July 2006, when asked if he would debate Owens, he said he "wouldn't debate her on how to bake a chocolate cake." Franchot campaigned strongly as the "only real Democrat in the race." On September 5, 2006, Schaefer told Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher that Janet Owens is a "prissy little miss" who wears "long dresses, looks like Mother Hubbardit's sort of like she was a man." He made additional comments that she was "getting fat." Later, in an on-air interview with reporter Tyler Evans of local news station News Channel 8, he further commented: "She's got these long clothes on and an old-fashioned hairdo. You know it sort of makes you real mad." On September 8, 2006, another local news station, WUSA9, showed an off-screen reporter asking him, "Did you call her an Old Mother Hubbard?" to which he responded, "Well, what does