As the deadline winds down for candidates to file to run for office across Maryland on Feb. 9, several key races in Baltimore are taking shape ahead of the May 14 primary and Nov. 5 general election.

Ten Democrats had entered the race for Baltimore mayor as of Friday, filling out a field that includes an elected incumbent mayor for the first time since Martin O’Malley ran for reelection 20 years ago.

Mayor Brandon Scott has filed to run as has former Mayor Sheila Dixon, who is hoping to reclaim the mayoral seat she relinquished in 2010 amid scandal. Also running is businessman Bob Wallace, an independent candidate for mayor in 2020, who is this time running as a Democrat. Former prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah, who announced his candidacy for the office late last month, had not yet filed as of Friday, but was expected to formally enter the race.

Other Democratic candidates for mayor include Wendy Bozel, “Uncle Wayne” Baker, Wendell Hill-Freeman, Yolanda Pulley, Keith B. Scott, Texas Brown and Kevin P. Harris.

Two Republicans, Donald Scoggins and Michael Moore, had also filed to run as of Friday. Baltimore Democrats have a more than 8-to-1 registration advantage over Republicans, and the Democratic primary typically decides the outcome of elections in the city. Independent candidate Chukwuemeka Egwu has also filed notice that he intends to run in the general election.

City Council president

In the days ahead of the filing deadline, the field of candidates vying for Baltimore City Council president remained unsettled. Despite announcing his candidacy in March 2023, Council President Nick Mosby had not yet filed to run for office as of Friday.

Mosby, whose testimony about his financial woes during the trial of his ex-wife Marilyn Mosby last week made headlines, has been prevented from filing due to $8,300 in fines he owes to the Maryland State Board of Elections as a result of late campaign finance report filings in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Candidates are required to be in good financial standing with the board before they can file to run for office.

Records showed some of Mosby’s past-due fines have been escalated to the Maryland State Prosecutor. However, officials with the Maryland State Board of Elections said Mosby can settle all of the fines by paying the board. The board allows campaign funds to be used to settle debts, and records show Mosby had $183,274 available in his campaign account as of Jan. 10.

Mosby, a Democrat who became council president in 2020, told The Baltimore Sun on Thursday that the fines have been cut in half to around $4,000, a sum he said he intended to pay Friday. Mosby said he remained committed to filing to run by next week.

Mosby is facing a challenge for his seat from Zeke Cohen, a sophomore councilman who has represented Canton, Fells Point and Highlandtown since 2016, and Shannon Sneed, a former councilwoman who previously ran for council president in 2020. Both Cohen and Sneed have filed to run for office. Both are Democrats.

City Council

Baltimore has 14 council districts, many of which are contested in 2024, but two are shaping up to be must-watch races in the months ahead. District 1, a South Baltimore seat held by Cohen for the last eight years, features a matchup between Mark Parker, a Highlandtown pastor, and Liam Davis, legislative affairs manager for the Baltimore City Department of Transportation. Joseph Raymond Koehler has also filed to run. All are Democrats.

With the announcement of endorsements this week, the District 1 race offers a mini-matchup of the council president race. Cohen has endorsed Parker while Davis has been endorsed by seven other sitting members of the council who are more frequently aligned with Mosby. Those members include Sharon Green Middleton, Danielle McCray, Mark Conway, Isaac “Yitzy” Schleifer, Eric Costello, Robert Stokes and Antonio Glover.

Claudia Towles, a real estate agent, has also been campaigning for the District 1 seat. Towles had not filed to run as of Friday.

Across the city in District 8, another competitive race is brewing for a seat being vacated by Councilman Kristerfer Burnett. Three Democrats have filed to run for the West Baltimore post: Bilal Ali, Paris Gray and Jeffrey David Allen. Burnett has endorsed Gray, who works as a community outreach coordinator for Burnett, however Ali has name recognition following a stint in the Maryland House of Delegates from 2017 to 2019. In 2018, Ali called for the disbanding of the Baltimore Police Department in the wake of the conviction of several police officers connected to the rogue Gun Trace Task Force.