Politics

Sam Cogen, a former high-ranking deputy in the Baltimore City Sheriff’s Office, widened his lead Tuesday in the race to unseat three-decade incumbent John W. Anderson. Cogen had 36,097 votes, or 51.8% of the votes, in the Democratic primary as of Tuesday morning. Anderson had 33,624 votes, or 48.2%. While the two candidates raked in nearly the same number of votes during early voting and on primary election day, Cogen has secured significantly more support from those who sent mail-in ballots. Election officials continue to tally straggler mail-in ballots.

Election workers will begin counting roughly 2,500 provisional ballots at 10 a.m. Wednesday, potentially moving the needle in Anne Arundel County primary races that remain too close to call. In all, there are 8,020 outstanding ballots — 5,459 Democratic and 2,561 Republican. A final canvass is scheduled for 10 a.m., Friday. Following last week’s canvass of 13,683 mail-in ballots, Republican candidate for county executive Jessica Haire held a lead over Herb McMillan of about 1,100 votes. While some primary races for statewide office have been called, including the Democratic and Republican nominations for governor (Wes Moore and Dan Cox, respectively), comptroller (Brooke Lierman and Barry Glassman, respectively) and attorney general (Anthony Brown and Michael Peroutka, respectively), others are still yet to be decided.

Ivan Bates, the Democratic nominee for Baltimore state’s attorney, said on Monday that he was putting violent, repeat offenders on notice, declaring that “you will be held accountable, and you will go to jail.” Speaking to reporters at his campaign headquarters at the Hilltop Shopping Center in Woodmere, Bates said the role of the chief law enforcement officer is to keep everyone safe. He said there will be “certainty of consequences.”

After days of ballot-counting, winners were declared Monday in close contests for two Baltimore County Council seats, but the Democratic race for state’s attorney remained unsettled. County election workers continued tallying mail-in ballots for a fifth day after working through the weekend.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan on Monday asked the Maryland State Board of Education to advance a recommendation by the inspector general for education to conduct an independent investigation of alleged grade-changing practices in Baltimore City Public Schools. The governor wrote, in part: “Marylanders are demanding better outcomes and more accountability for the taxpayer dollars entrusted to the local school systems charged with providing a high-quality education for every single Maryland child — with no exceptions.

Baltimore voters get a say in November in determining who oversees the city’s inspector general, a watchdog against waste, fraud and abuse A proposed charter amendment that would change the composition of the board that oversees Baltimore’s inspector general was approved Monday by Baltimore City Council, assuring the measure will appear on ballots this fall.

Maryland Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger has tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced Monday. The Democrat who represents Maryland’s 2nd District tested positive for the virus on Sunday evening, according to a news release. The congressman’s symptoms are mild and he is working from home while isolating, his office said. He is fully vaccinated and has had a booster shot.