Baltimore's Democratic primary for mayor looks tight
In Baltimore, Democratic voters are choosing between a current and former mayor, and the race looks very close. Former mayor Sheila Dixon is currently leading incumbent Brandon Scott by less than a tenth of a percentage point with mostly early vote reported, according to the state's board of elections.
This is Dixon's third attempt to return to the mayor's office since she resigned in 2010 after being found guilty of embezzlement. In 2016, she narrowly lost the primary to Catherine Pugh, who later went on to plead guilty to conspiracy and tax evasion. Then in 2020, Dixon lost the primary to Scott by just 2.1 percentage points, though a crowded field of 24 candidates meant neither put up a strong showing.
Perhaps ironically, Dixon's campaign this time around focused in part on crime, an issue that 79 percent of Baltimore voters cited as "extremely serious" or "very serious" in a March Washington Post/University of Maryland poll, far more than other areas of the state. Thirty-two percent of Baltimore City voters also told the pollsters that they feel "not too safe" or "not at all safe" from crime in their neighborhoods.
Two different surveys of the mayoral primary in April both showed a single-digit race with Scott ahead, so this one might go down to the wire.
—Mary Radcliffe, 538
