Baltimore City Council races to watch ahead of the May 14 primary
Several incumbent members of the Baltimore City Council are facing formidable challenges this cycle while other council hopefuls are duking it out for two open seats.
Those open seats are the only two guaranteed to be represented by a newcomer next year, a stark difference from four years ago, when nearly a third of the 15-person council turned over. Still, only two incumbent members of the council are running unopposed, while the majority of members are facing at least one challenger. The outcome of the primary often determines the winners of political races in deep-blue Baltimore, where Democrats outnumber Republicans almost 10-1.
Council races often attract much less fanfare than the city’s mayoral race, where Mayor Brandon Scott is locked in a tight contest against former Mayor Sheila Dixon. The council president race, too, has been closely watched as two challengers have made it into a three-way contest. The district-based City Council race is the first since the city redistricted last fall. The new map shifted the Little Italy and Harbor East neighborhoods, among others, to new districts to compensate for population growth in Districts 1 and 11, which serve as battlegrounds for the council’s most competitive races, along with Districts 8 and 12.
All 14 of the current council members, the at-large council president, and the mayor are Democrats.
The 2024 primary is also the first in which candidates can tap public resources to finance their campaigns. Districtwide council candidates can access up to $125,000 from the city’s Fair Election Fund if they raise at least 150 small-dollar contributions totaling $5,000.
Below is a roundup of some of the most contested races this cycle.
District 1
District 1 Councilman Zeke Cohen opted to vacate his southeast Baltimore seat to run for council president against sitting Council President Nick Mosby and former city Councilwoman Shannon Sneed. The winner will face Republican Emmanuel Digman in the fall. Cohen has endorsed Mark Parker, who is running against Liam Davis, a legislative affairs manager for the city’s Department of Transportation, and Joseph Koehler, a certified public accountant.
The race has in some ways mirrored the council president race, with Davis boasting endorsements from seven Mosby-aligned council members including Council Vice President Sharon Green Middleton, Danielle McCray, Mark Conway, Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer, Eric Costello, Robert Stokes and Antonio Glover.
Comprising neighborhoods like Canton, Highlandtown, and Fells Point, District 1 is one of the most affluent areas in the city. It’s home to the Port of Baltimore, which temporarily shuttered after a cargo vessel struck and toppled the Francis Scott Key bridge in March. Cohen’s successor will oversee the district during the port’s reopening, which is slated for the end of May, as well as the bridge’s rebuilding, which is expected to be complete in 2028 and cost up to $1.9 billion.
Parker, a minister at Breath of God Lutheran Church in Highlandtown, boasts support from Comptroller Bill Henry and the backing of organizations like CASA, Clean Water Action and the Baltimore Teachers’ Union. Davis’ April campaign finance report listed support from Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski and the union representing Baltimore’s rank and file firefighters.
Koehler, by contrast, reported having just $7,000 on hand in his latest campaign finance report and one endorsement from Run for Something, a progressive group that boosts down-ballot local candidates. He has cited his accounting skills and work as a Canton public safety leader, arguing he would strengthen the council’s budget and operational oversight if elected.
District 8
Upon announcing last summer that he would not seek another term, Councilman Kristerfer Burnett named Paris Gray, his district community liaison, as his preferred successor. Gray faces Bilal Ali, Christian B. Allen, Jeffrey David Allen, and Joyous Jones in the primary.
Burnett has been a progressive voice on the council since winning the seat in 2016, most recently pushing to restrict the use of facial recognition technology. Gray has pledged to continue that work, making reforming public safety and delivering constituent services key tenants of his platform.
Ali has name recognition following a stint in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2017 to 2019. In 2018, he memorably called for the Baltimore Police Department’s disbanding following the Gun Trace Task Force scandal.
Christian B. Allen is a video and film technician/producer who has pledged to focus on strengthening council ties with law enforcement if elected.
Jones has not filed any campaign finance reports since entering the race Feb. 9, and did not respond to The Baltimore Sun’s voter guide questionnaire. Jeffrey David Allen also did not respond to The Sun’s questionnaire. He is self-financing his campaign and owes more than $1,300 in loans to himself, according to campaign finance records.
District 11
Incumbent Councilman Eric Costello is facing a well-financed challenge from Federal Hill Neighborhood Association President Zac Blanchard.
Appointed in 2014 to replace outgoing Councilman William H. Cole IV, Costello has amassed power on the 15-member council during his tenure. A former federal auditor, Costello serves as the head of the council’s Ways and Means Committee and chairs the city’s budget negotiation process annually.
Representing a sprawling district that stretches from South Baltimore Peninsula, wraps around the Inner Harbor and extends north to Bolton Hill, Costello has also been a prolific fundraiser. He entered 2024 with more than $500,000 on hand and has spent at least $276,000 since, much of it on campaign staff, numerous mailers and a $26,000 poll.
With the help of public financing, Blanchard, a former Marine who serves as a vice president for the Midtown Community Benefits District, has run a spirited campaign. Chairing the neighborhood association Costello once led, Blanchard has bombarded District 11 residents with mailers including one with Costello’s face on an oversized lottery ticket claiming “fat cat political donors won the lottery with Eric Costello.”
Costello’s plentiful mailers have emphasized the moderate Democrat’s support from Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman, Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates and Sheriff Sam Cogen.
Blanchard was the first city candidate this cycle to access the maximum $125,000 public financing contribution for his campaign. He has used that money to buy billboards and ample online advertising and spent more than $80,000 on mail.
District 12
Incumbent Councilman Robert Stokes faces a challenge this cycle from labor official Jermaine Jones. Known as one of the council’s more low-profile members, Stokes has nonetheless twice beaten back well-funded opposition campaigns. He narrowly beat six other Democrats to first win his District 12 seat in 2016, representing communities in central and East Baltimore.
In 2020, he comfortably beat Green Party challenger Franca Muller Paz, even after council members like Cohen broke ranks to endorse her after saying the city deserved leaders who were “unafraid to fight for justice.”
This year Stokes, whose newly redistricted territory now includes the economically booming Harbor East, faces stiff competition from the politically connected Jones. Despite entering the race late, Jones has won backing from groups like the Sierra Club, Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO, and AFSCME Maryland. He reported having $34,600 on hand as of late April, much of it courtesy of labor union donors. He received maximum $6,000 contributions from the Construction & Master Laborers Local Union 11, Laborers District Council PAC Fund, the Metropolitan Baltimore Council for the AFL-CIO and Plumbers & Steamfitters UA Local 486.
Still, Stokes has also run a well-financed campaign. He reported having $102,000 on hand boosted by donors like the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 and Jack Haden of the Baltimore Recycling Center.