Politics

More than 3,000 provisional ballots and 5,200 mail-in ballots from Howard County voters will be counted Wednesday, according to Board of Elections Director Guy Mickley, leaving about 1,000 ballots for a final canvassing session Friday, the same day local election results are certified by the state board and posted online. “We’re just very tired and we’ll be very happy when we’re finished counting all these ballots,” said Mickley as he headed into Wednesday’s canvassing at the Kenneth Ulman Innovation Hub in Columbia.

Former President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he will seek the presidency again in 2024, even as a rising number of Republicans are urging the party to look elsewhere in light of their 2022 midterm debacle. Minutes before his scheduled 9 p.m. announcement from Mar-a-Lago, Trump filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission saying he was running for president in 2024, and setting up a fundraising account.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman took the lead in the race for his reelection and looks certain to retain the post after his Republican challenger, County Council member Jessica Haire, conceded to him late Tuesday night. At a Wednesday morning news conference in Glen Burnie, Pittman said he had a “gracious conversation” with his Republican challenger, thanking her for the “hard-fought” race.

The eight amendments to Anne Arundel County’s governing documents are all on track to pass after two days of mail-in ballot canvassing finished Monday night. Many of the amendments were suggested by the county’s Charter Revision Commission, which reviews the County Charter every 10 years, and all but one have received widespread support as ballots are counted. They include Question A, which would extend County Council term limits to three consecutive four-year terms rather than two and Question B, codifying the county’s Veterans Affairs Commission. Those questions have received 78% and 85% support, respectively, according to returns published Tuesday.

Glenn Ivey enters his first term as a congressman after a landslide victory against Republican challenger Jeff Warner. This was not his first time that Ivey, a Democrat, ran for the House. He ran in 2012 but dropped out before the primary due to fundraising issues. He tried again in 2016 but lost in the primary. Ivey said he wanted to make a difference in so many communities and now his perseverance has been rewarded. He will represent Maryland’s 4th District, a predominantly Black constituency, which contains parts of Prince George’s County and a sliver of Montgomery County. “There are major challenges that are being addressed one way or another in Congress, and I certainly want to be part of trying to help address those problems and find positive ways to move the country forward,” Ivey said in a recent interview.

The executive director of Annapolis’s housing authority pleaded with the City Council on Monday night to de-escalate their “adversarial relationship,” and called on the council to reform inspection procedures, provide more funding for upkeep and drop a lawsuit filed against the authority last month. Melissa Maddox-Evans, executive director of the Housing Authority of the City of Annapolis, came before the council with the intent of presenting a quarterly report, but her testimony touched off nearly 90 minutes of impassioned discussion and traded accusations, marking the most public conversation about the legal, logistical and financial problems facing the housing authority in years.

Baltimore County’s law office wants to hire a legal firm to consider litigation against fossil fuels companies over climate change, which could mimic suits filed by Baltimore City, Anne Arundel County and jurisdictions across the country. But it will need the approval of the Baltimore County Council, and some members have concerns about the proposal. A contract with the law firm Sher Edling was brought before the council for the first time Tuesday evening. It won’t be voted on by the body until at least its next meeting, which is Monday evening. Sher Edling is litigating about 20 suits from cities and counties against oil and gas companies, alleging they should bear costs associated with climate change, in part because they hid information from the public about the harmful impacts of greenhouse gas emissions.

As the Harford County Board of Elections continues canvassing, candidates endorsed by a national conservative political action group focused on parental rights in schools, are in the lead for two of the six seats up for grabs on the Harford Board of Education. Previous early voting and Election Day totals had four of the conservative group’s candidates in the lead, but mail-in ballots, which tend to trend Democratic, flipped the lead in districts B and E.