By Robert Sobus and Nicholas Palazzo
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Baltimore native and City Council President Brandon M. Scott was elected Baltimore’s 52nd mayor on Tuesday.
Scott was the heavy favorite to win in a city that is historically dominated by Democrats. He decisively defeated his Republican rival Shannon Wright, Independent business owner Bob Wallace and Working-Class Party affiliate David Harding.
With 65 percent of precincts reporting Tuesday evening, Scott had 115,175 votes, or 72 percent, with Wallace finishing second with31,394 votes, Wright in third with 10,158 votes and Harding with 2,408 votes.
Democrat Nick Mosby was elected the new president of the City Council, gaining 80 percent of the vote against his Republican challenger, Jovani M. Patterson.
“Baltimore, our city, has voted for a new way forward,” Scott said. “I stand before you tonight, a son of Baltimore and the next mayor of our great city.”
At 10 p.m. Wallace conceded the race. He called Scott to inform him he was dropping out; this came after Wallace had gained traction amongst voters.
“Though this wasn’t the results we were hoping for, thank you lord for taking us this far,” Wallace said. “This does not mean my work for Baltimore is over.”
Following behind in a distant third was Wright. The Republican Party fell in the Baltimore election as Wright was only able to convince 6.4% of the city’s population to vote for her. She was down 20,000 votes from Wallace.
Scott became the 21st council president of Baltimore City in May 2019 after then-President Bernard C. “Jack” Young became mayor due to Catherine Pugh’s resignation amid scandal.
From 2011 until he was elected as council president, Scott was the youngest elected councilmember at the age of 27. Scott will also become the youngest mayor of Baltimore at age 36.
“I’ve worked my whole life in my city to make it a better place,” Scott said. “I haven’t changed. I am that same person that I was nine years ago when I was elected. I’m going to be that same person as mayor.”
In June, Scott won the Democratic nomination in a field that included more than 20 Democrats, including incumbent Young and former Mayor Sheila Dixon.
Scott proposed a new approach to reducing violence in the city by treating it as a public health crisis. He also promised to reduce homicides to under 300 during his first year in office. The last time Baltimore had under 300 homicides was in 2014,when it had 211.
“Baltimore needs a mayor who is willing to invest in communities that save our youth,” Scott said. “We need a mayor who will treat gun violence as a disease and throw the full force of government, not just the police, into addressing this epidemic.”
Voters also cast ballots for council members, the council president and congressional races.
There were no surprises in the races for Congress, with all incumbents retaining their seats. Kweisi Mfume won his race to keep his seat in the 7th Congressional District, which he won after the death of Elijah Cummings.
The others who won re-election included Republican Andy Harris with Democrats Dutch Ruppersberger, John Sarbanes, Anthony Brown, Steny Hoyer, David Troneand Jamie Raskin.
Every winning candidate had been seeking a new term and continue their work for the state of Maryland. Representative Mfume was running against a Republican candidate who was endorsed by Trump, Kimberly Klacik.