Politics

The race for Baltimore mayor may have been called for incumbent Mayor Brandon Scott, but challenger Sheila Dixon said Wednesday she’s not giving up. In a statement by her campaign team, the former mayor said she will wait for more mail-in ballots to be counted before making any statements on the race. “In respect to all who voted, I’ll be waiting for the final outcome of the mail-in ballots,” she said.

April McClain Delaney, a former Commerce Department official from Potomac, has won the Democratic primary in Maryland’s 6th Congressional District, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday night. With 211 of 213 precincts counted on Tuesday, plus early voting and some mail-in ballots, McClain Delaney had 13,494 votes.

Zeke Cohen held a commanding lead late Tuesday in the race for Baltimore City Council president, roughly doubling the votes of either of his opponents, incumbent Nick Mosby and Shannon Sneed. “I will be proud and humbled” to lead the council, said Cohen, now a second-term 1st District councilman, at his election party at Darker Than Blue Grille in Mount Vernon.

The race to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-2nd) has been overshadowed by the races for an open Senate seat and open House seats in the 3rd and 6th congressional districts. But Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. (D) seems well-equipped to head to Capitol Hill at the beginning of 2025. Olszewski easily prevailed in the 2nd District Democratic primary Tuesday, taking 78% of the vote compared to just under 9% for his nearest competitor, state Del. Harry Bhandari (D-Baltimore County).

In the closing hours of her primary campaign for U.S. Senate, Prince George’s Executive Angela Alsobrooks rallied with fellow Black women to boost her potentially historic campaign and push her closer to the top of America’s political power structure. Nearly 1 in 3 of Maryland’s over 6 million residents is Black, living in the most diverse state on the East Coast — a typically blue electorate that has elevated Black people to key positions of power, but never to Congress’ upper chamber.

Nia Banks has felt this way before. Two years ago, she supported Wes Moore in his historic run to become Maryland’s first Black governor. Now she feels that same energy with Angela Alsobrooks, the Prince George’s County executive who is seeking a seat in the U.S. Senate. If successful, Alsobrooks would be Maryland’s first Black senator, and the fourth Black woman to serve in the chamber.

While the 2024 session was a bit more understated on new legislative protections for Maryland’s LGBTQ+ population compared to previous years, a nationwide policy tracker reports that the state is creating a more LGBTQ+ friendly state based off recent legislation. The Movement Advancement Project (MAP) follows the ever-changing policy landscape across the United States and how it affects the nation’s LGBTQ+ population.