Local government

Communities must stand against the language that criminalizes and dehumanizes immigrants, says the managing attorney of an organization supporting immigrant survivors of gender-based violence in Baltimore.

When the mayor of Annapolis plans a $10 million, glass-walled maritime welcome center at City Dock — right on top of an $88 million public works project to save downtown by lifting part of it above climate-driven flooding — Historic Annapolis pays attention. The question is, is anyone listening?

Election day vote counts were reduced in races for City Council District 11 and District 8, two competitive races that are currently too close to call.

Dixon said she called Scott to congratulate him on Friday morning. “His success leading our city is success for us all, so I sincerely wish him all the best in his second term,” the former mayor said.

About 25,000 outstanding votes were expected to help decide at least three closely contested City Council races that have not yet declared winners.

Nick Mosby’s last campaign looked a lot like that of his ex-wife, Marilyn Mosby. What happens next for the onetime Baltimore power couple is anyone’s guess.

“In respect to all who voted, I’ll be waiting for the final outcome of the mail-in ballots before I make any further statements on the outcome of the mayoral primary,” Dixon said in a Wednesday statement.

The council’s budget leader and would-be kingmaker had a tough election night Tuesday.

Not only did Mayor Brandon Scott, who has enjoyed higher approval ratings among white voters, have massive margins in the White L, he also ran close to former Mayor Sheila Dixon in the city’s majority-Black precincts, a Banner analysis of preliminary election data found.

Scott becomes the center of political gravity in Baltimore, now that he’s slated to become the first mayor to serve at least two full terms since 1999.

Voters have become more familiar with mailed-in ballots over the last four years, experts said, which makes accounting for turnout a more arduous process.

Anne Arundel County school board candidate Sarah Lacey suspended her campaign in March, but nevertheless advanced in Tuesday’s primary to the November general election. Now it appears she will face incumbent Gloria Dent in District 1.

“Tonight, you made it very clear that your democracy was not for sale,” said Scott, a first-term mayor who narrowly defeated Sheila Dixon in 2020. “I am blessed to have another term to serve as your mayor.”

The need for more fields in the county has become increasingly pressing since the 1980s.

Zeke Cohen jumped out to an early lead Tuesday in the Democratic primary for Baltimore City Council president, as initial returns showed the 1st District councilman a few thousand votes ahead both incumbent Nick Mosby and Shannon Sneed.

A measure to change the selection process for Baltimore County's Planning Board might have less to do with concerns about planning generally and more to do with opposition to mixed-use development that would include affordable housing, says a county resident who writes about law and local government issues.

Baltimore City Council races for the 8th, 11th and 12th districts were still too close to call as of Wednesday morning and will likely be decided by mail-in and provisional ballots that have yet to be counted.

Baltimore voters choose stability; Dixon’s die-hards; low turnout; and other things we learned from Tuesday’s results.

Around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, the race was too close to call; with seven of 17 precincts reported, Gray had the slightest of edges.

See 2024 election results for the Howard County School Board race in Maryland.