Bruce Bereano strode across the room without pausing to sign in.

“Where should I sit?” he said as he moved in for a handshake with the director of Maryland State Board of Elections, Jared DeMarinis. It was 5 p.m. and time for Bereano to assume his perch.

For at least 40 years, perhaps longer, Bereano has held this post in the corner of the Board of Elections office on one particular night: the state’s candidate filing deadline.

Technology has come a long way since Bereano, one of the state’s best-known lobbyists, began this tradition.

Gone are the 47 clipboards that once hung from a wall designating candidates in each of the state’s legislative district races. While filers must still come to the office to make their candidacy official, today’s political junkies can check on their phones who might be invading someone else’s territory in a play for a seat.

That’s little deterrent to Bereano. He’s there to watch what’s left of the gamesmanship, to say he witnessed history.

“There are things you can only do in person,” he said. “You can’t do it any other way.”

In Bereano’s decades of observation, there are moments etched in his political memory.

He recalls the black Cadillac limousine that swept William Donald Schaefer to the elections office to file for the Democrat’s first run for governor in 1986. Schaefer was accompanied that evening by former Democratic Gov. Marvin Mandel and businessman John Paterakis, a pair determined to make sure he filed.

“They had, in a friendly way, in the best interest of the State of Maryland, they kidnapped him, and they brought him down,” Bereano said, laughing.

Another year, state Sen. Howard Denis from Montgomery County was on hand for the final hours of filing day to see if anyone would run against him. When a man showed up to file, Bereano watched in amazement as Denis, a Republican who went on to serve almost two decades in the seat, talked the man out of it.

“Had he not been there, he would have had an opponent,” Bereano said.

On Tuesday, it seemed there would be few surprises.

Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan announced a U.S. Senate bid on filing day in 2024, but settled speculation months in advance by announcing that he would not run for governor again. Republican state Sen. Steve Hershey ended speculation that he would run for governor by quietly filing for Senate the Friday before.

Bereano learned of Hershey’s decision as he arrived in the elections office. He popped open his signature flip phone — he doesn’t text, his phone doesn’t have the capability — and fired off a voicemail.

“I’m going to file for governor now and put you down as my running mate,” he said before clapping the phone shut.

Then Del. Mark Chang appeared in the office.

With only minutes to spare, state Sen. Pam Beidle, an Anne Arundel County Democrat, withdrew her candidacy for reelection, and Chang, also a Democrat, filed to run for her seat, leaving virtually no time for additional challengers.

A hush fell over the two dozen observers in the room. Bereano paced, circling the scene with interest.

DeMarinis, whose two decades with the election board are a fraction of Bereano’s tenure, said he views Bereano’s presence as part of the process. Sometimes staff will remind Bereano that he can view the candidate listings online, but DeMarinis tells them to print him copies anyway. It’s not harming anyone, he said.

“It’s a vestige of the past,” DeMarinis said. “And as a student of that, it’s nice to see what it would have been like back in the day.”

Long a colorful fixture in Maryland politics, little has managed to sideline Bereano. He worked through his confinement in a federal halfway house in 1999, the result of a conviction on mail fraud charges. For six months, Bereano lobbied in Annapolis during the day and returned to the Baltimore halfway house at night.

Decades later, Bereano remains one of the highest-paid lobbyists in Maryland. Reports filed with the state show that he made more than $1.7 million from a stable of nearly 50 clients last year.

While his interest in candidate filings is primarily for sport, Bereano said it has never hurt his lobbying business to be in the know.

“I want to always try to have my finger on the pulse of what’s going on,” he said. “You can have some very meaningful conversation,” he added.

Gerry Evans, a fellow longtime lobbyist, called Bereano’s presence at the election board a “brilliant tactic.” People he meets today may be the lawmakers he needs to lobby tomorrow, Evans said.

Evans called Bereano “iconic” and credited him with giving lobbyists a new face in Annapolis.

Bereano maintains he doesn’t interfere with the filing process, but DeMarinis recalled at least one occasion where things got heated. In 2020, former Republican Anne Arundel County State’s Attorney Wes Adams waited until the last day to file for Circuit Court judge. Bereano confronted him, DeMarinis said.

“Bruce was like, ‘We told you to stand down,’ and Wes was like, ‘I’m doing it,’” DeMarinis recalled. “He’s screaming at the guy right then and there.”

The argument was the only time Bereano said he lost his temper in the office. He said he felt misled by Adams during a conversation days earlier.

“I’m from the Bronx. It just came out,” he said.

At 81, Bereano said he has no intention of slowing down. He’ll keep showing up at the filing deadline as long as he’s alive.

“There’s the sun, there’s the moon, and there’s Bruce Bereano,” he said. “I’m always going to be there.”

Correction: This article has been updated to correct that William Donald Schaefer first ran for governor in 1986.