Politics

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Wes Moore, fresh off a competitive primary in which he outraised and outspent more experienced political opponents, has kept up a robust fundraising pace with just under $1.5 million on hand heading into Maryland’s fall election season — more than tenfold the amount his Republican opponent reported, new campaign finance reports show. Moore raised $1.7 million in the five weeks after the July 19 primary, and $2.3 million total since the last campaign finance update in early July, according to reports filed Tuesday.

Ballot questions in Baltimore almost never fail. Over the past two decades, more than 100 questions have been put to city voters, probing their thoughts on issues ranging from borrowing money to making it easier for the City Council to oust a mayor. During that time, voters have rejected only one question, a 2004 effort to lower the minimum age to become a council member. That makes the odds high that Baltimore voters will approve a proposed two-term limit for the city’s top elected officials. The question was the only one to emerge from numerous efforts that gathered petition signatures this year in hopes of getting issues on the ballot.

Baltimore County Councilwoman Cathy Bevins said Tuesday that she is withdrawing a proposed bill that would have exempted waterfront restaurants and marinas from some environmental requirements, following criticism from residents and environmental advocates. The bill would have allowed restaurants and marinas in Chesapeake Bay Critical Areas in the county to add new structures up to the water’s edge, exempting them from laws requiring a vegetation buffer to separate certain developments from bodies of water.

Eight million dollars in state funding to help relocate witnesses and victims of crime in Baltimore over the past three years hasn’t been spent due to a bureaucratic standstill between the governor’s office and city prosecutors. The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office, which receives hundreds of thousands of dollars from the state annually, in 2019 sought and received additional funding to assist victims and witnesses from the Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth, and Victim Services. The $2 million would more than double its existing budget for victims and witnesses, and was to be re-upped each year after being spent down.

Baltimore’s deputy mayor for community and economic development, who recently was suspended from his position, has resigned effective immediately. Ted Carter, a member of Mayor Brandon Scott’s executive team since early 2021, submitted his resignation Monday. Carter had been suspended for eight days due to a complaint lodged against him, according to sources not authorized to discuss a personnel matter.