The incumbent acting mayor Jack Young, who unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic Party nomination, had become mayor following the resignation of Catherine Pugh. Pugh's resignation had come after she was embroiled in a scandal.
Scott won the Democratic nomination in a crowded primary election that had 24 candidates listed on the ballot. Six of these candidates received in excess of 5 percent of the vote. With 29.6% of the vote, Scott's margin-of-victory over former mayor Sheila Dixon's second-place finish was 2.1%. The acting incumbent, Young, placed a weak fifth, with 6.2% of the vote. In addition to Scott, Dixon, and Young, the primary included the candidacies of businesswoman and former United States Department of the Treasury executive Mary J. Miller; former Maryland Deputy Attorney General Thiruvendran Vignarajah; and former county and police department press secretary/spokesperson T.J. Smith. State Senator Mary L. Washington also ran and was listed on the ballot, but had suspended her campaign before the election. In the Republican primary, Shannon Wright defeated six other candidates. The Democratic primary had 148,405 votes cast, while the Republican primary only had 5,608 votes.
The primary elections were originally scheduled to be held on April 28, 2020, with early voting running from April 16 to 23.[2] Due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, Maryland GovernorLarry Hogan announced on March 17, 2020 that the primary election would be postponed to June 2.[3]
Background and candidatesedit
Incumbent Mayor Jack Young, took office by default on May 2, 2019 following the resignation of Mayor Catherine Pugh.[4] In October 2019, Young announced that he would seek election to remain mayor in 2020.[5]
After the first campaign finance reporting date in mid January 2019, Bernard C. "Jack" Young had $960,000 cash on hand, Thiru Vignarajah reported having about $840,000, Brandon Scott had nearly $430,000, Rikki Vaughn $218,000 cash on-hand, Mary Washington had more than $116,000, Sheila Dixon had nearly $89,000, Carlmichael "Stokey" Cannady had nearly $36,000, and T.J. Smith had about $22,000.[6]
Declared candidatesedit
Yasaun Young (No affiliation or relation to Jack Young)[7]
Carlmichael "Stokey" Cannady, anti-violence activist and mediator[8][7]
Lou Catelli (a.k.a. Will Bauer), unofficial "Mayor of Hampden"[9][7]
Collins Otonna,[7]2016 independent candidate for mayor[29][30]
David Anthony Wiggins, Ranking Member, 2nd Councilmanic District, Baltimore City Republican Central Committee, Co-Founder Temple Afrika, Inc, President, Baltimore Black Think Tank Incorporated[7]
Shannon Wright, nonprofit executive and former pastor, nominee for Baltimore City Council President in 2016[28][7]
Kahan Singh Dhillon, Jr. filed his candidacy but failed to submit the required number of signatures and does not appear on the general election ballot.[31]
Robert Wallace, Independent candidate and businessman[21]
^"Presidential General Election Baltimore City, Maryland November 3, 2020" (PDF).
^"Baltimore City Board of Elections 2020 Election Dates". December 8, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
^Dickstein, Ryan (March 17, 2020). "Hogan postpones primary election, announces more sweeping action against COVID-19". WMAR-TV. Retrieved March 17, 2020.
^Duncan, Ian (May 2, 2019). "Now officially Baltimore mayor, Jack Young inherits city's problems — particularly violent crime". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
^ abBroadwater, Luke (October 22, 2019). "Young says he's running in 2020 to remain Baltimore mayor, believes city is 'on the cusp of a renaissance'". The Baltimore Sun.
^Opilo, Emily; Richman, Talia (January 16, 2020). "Baltimore mayoral candidates raise $2.3M, signaling expensive and bitter fight ahead for crowded field". the Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxy"Baltimore City 2020 Presidential Primary Election Local Candidates List". elections.maryland.gov. May 30, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
^Reed, Lillian (July 16, 2019). "Carlmichael 'Stokey' Cannady announces run for Baltimore mayor". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
^Schuh, Mike (April 29, 2019). "Hampden's Unofficial 'Mayor' Lou Catelli Files For Baltimore City Mayor". WJZ-TV. Baltimore, Maryland. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
^"One Baltimore Mayor | Sean Gresh 2020 | Democratic Candidate for Mayor of One Baltimore City". onebaltimoremayor.com. Archived from the original on January 4, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
^"RALPH E. JOHNSON JR. FOR MAYOR OF BALTIMORE CITY". 79500.campaignpartner.net. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
^ ab"Tenth Candidate To Announce Run For Baltimore Mayor". WJZ-TV. August 15, 2019. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
^"James Hugh Jones II". Baltimore Sun Election Guide 2018. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
^Richman, Luke Broadwater, Talia (January 7, 2020). "Former T. Rowe Price exec Mary Miller enters Baltimore mayor's race, citing 'crying need for management' in city". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved January 7, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Pulley, Yolanda [@Yoshie_pulley] (April 2, 2019). "Vote Yolanda Pulley for Mayor 2020. P.O.P" (Tweet) (in Spanish). Retrieved October 29, 2019 – via Twitter.
^Broadwater, Luke (September 13, 2019). "City Council President Brandon Scott enters race for Baltimore mayor, heating up 2020 contest". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
^Rector, Kevin (October 29, 2019). "Former police spokesman T.J. Smith promises change as Baltimore mayor that he says establishment can't deliver". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 29, 2019.
^"Who might run for Baltimore mayor in 2020". The Baltimore Sun. April 2, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
^Rodricks, Dan (April 10, 2019). "Rodricks: Vignarajah comes into the 2020 mayor's race wisely focused on crime and corruption". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
^ abBarker, Jeff (May 20, 2020). "Businessman Bob Wallace wants to shake up Baltimore mayor's race with independent run". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
^Richman, Talia (March 16, 2020). "State Sen. Mary Washington suspends campaign for Baltimore mayor to focus on coronavirus". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
^Carter, Jill P. [@jillpcarter] (October 29, 2019). "Today, I'm announcing my Exploratory Committee to continue the civil rights legacy of Maryland's 7th Congressional District. I'll be talking to my potential constituents about the issues. Reach out via DM if you'd like to support. Thank you! #CarterForCongress" (Tweet). Retrieved October 29, 2019 – via Twitter.
^Wood, Pamela; Broadwater, Luke (October 24, 2019). "Miller says he'll step down as Maryland Senate president, Democrats pick Baltimore's Bill Ferguson to replace him". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 24, 2019.
^"Ben Jealous might seek Maryland governor's office again, rules out run for Baltimore mayor". The Baltimore Sun. September 5, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
^Broadwater, Luke (October 3, 2019). "Del. Nick Mosby says he's 'seriously' considering run for Baltimore City Council president". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
^ ab"Official 2020 Presidential Primary Election results for Baltimore City". elections.maryland.gov. Maryland State Board of Elections. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
^ abcBroadwater, Luke (August 27, 2019). "History is largely against them, but some Republicans are running to be mayor of Baltimore". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved August 27, 2019.
^"Baltimore City 2016 Presidential General Election Local Candidates List". elections.maryland.gov. Maryland Board of Elections. November 21, 2016. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
^"Collins Otonna". Ballotpedia. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
^ ab"Baltimore City 2020 Presidential General Election Local Candidates List". elections.maryland.gov. Maryland State Board of Elections. October 8, 2020. Retrieved October 9, 2020.
^"Presidential General Election Baltimore City, Maryland November 3, 2020 OFFICIAL RESULTS" (PDF). Baltimore City Board of Elections. 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.