Baltimore City Council races in three districts still too close to call
Several Baltimore City Council races were still too close to call Wednesday morning, a stark contrast from the definite victories that came Tuesday night as races were called for mayor, the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House, and the presidential primary.
Competitive races in districts 8, 11, and 12 were undecided as of 5 a.m. Wednesday, with provisional and many mail-in ballots still uncounted. Incumbents in districts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, and 14 either ran unopposed or coasted to victory in the primary. District 1, in southeastern Baltimore, also appeared to be decided, with Mark Parker ahead in the three-way matchup.
In District 11, incumbent Eric Costello is clinging to a 25-vote lead over challenger Zac Blanchard. Costello had not claimed victory as of Wednesday morning.
Blanchard, a Marine veteran, was the first city candidate in the 2024 cycle to access the maximum $125,000 amount of public financing. Much of that went toward billboards and digital advertisements. Blanchard spent close to $65,000 on mailers, which he used to criticize Costello’s developer and business-heavy donor base.
Costello first won his South Baltimore district in 2014, and has consolidated power during his decade on the council, rising to become the chair of the Ways and Means Committee. The district covers the South Baltimore Peninsula and the Inner Harbor, and runs north to Bolton Hill.
Parker won in District 1, an East Baltimore district that includes neighborhoods like Canton, Fells Point, and Highlandtown. The Lutheran pastor won an early nod from outgoing Councilman Zeke Cohen against challengers Liam Davis, who boasted endorsements from seven other councilmembers, and Joseph Koehler. Cohen claimed victory as Council President Tuesday night; incumbent Nick J. Mosby conceded Wednesday morning.
Parker framed his win alongside Cohen’s and Scott’s as a victory for voters who wanted to “keep moving the city forward in a pragmatic and progressive way.”
“There’s a group of big donors who are used to throwing their money around and calling the shots,” said Parker, alluding to donors who backed Dixon and Mosby. “The bigger picture is, last night, the city said overall, that’s not the direction we want to go.”
Councilmembers facing challengers in two other races, District 8 and District 12, are also facing paper-thin margins as of Wednesday morning.
In District 8, which covers West Baltimore, Paris Gray led Bilal Ali by 53 votes as of Wednesday morning. The two are the top contenders to claim the seat of outgoing Councilman Kristerfer Burnett, who endorsed Gray as his preferred successor.
Jermaine Jones has a 140-vote lead over Councilman Robert Stokes in District 12, which represents central and east Baltimore. The district absorbed the affluent Harbor East neighborhood after the city redistricted last fall.
Stokes is a two-term councilman whose low profile on the council belied his fundraising prowess. He previously beat two well-funded opponents in 2016 and 2020.
But Jones, an official with the Baltimore-DC Metro Building Trades Council, garnered support from powerful labor unions like the Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO and AFSCME Maryland, making him a formidable opponent.
The citywide district races attracted less fanfare than the mayoral race, which featured a fierce matchup between incumbent Brandon Scott and his chief opponent, former Mayor Sheila Dixon. Scott declared victory Tuesday night.
The Democratic primary often decides the outcome of political races in Baltimore, where Democrats outnumber Republicans by a nearly 10-1 margin. All 14 councilmembers, the at-large Council president, and mayor are Democrats.
Danielle McCray, Phylicia Porter, Odette Ramos, Mark Conway, Ryan Dorsey, Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer, John T. Bullock, Antonio Glover, Council Vice President Sharon Green Middleton, and James Torrence all either ran unopposed or easily claimed victory in the primary.
Mail-in ballots will continue to be counted starting Thursday.
