Baltimore’s primary election is not until April 26, but a major milestone is coming up. The candidates looking to become the city’s next mayor must file their paperwork with the State Board of Elections by February 3. Here are the current frontrunners. Some of the candidates had not officially filed as of press time. (The following candidates appear in alphabetical order.)
Sheila Dixon
In early January, Dixon released a four-point plan aimed at making the city safer. In it, she suggests ways to stop gun violence, make changes to the police department and make city agencies more unified. “This has been a year of profound hardship for our city. With the painful loss of Freddie Gray, the entrenched conflicts that his death brought to the surface, and the horrifying spike in violence that followed, we all strive to find words of healing and actions to match. But that takes leadership, and that is what I’m offering the citizens of this city,” she writes on her website. Officially filed: no
Elizabeth Embry
Embry, who is currently on leave from her job as Chief of the Criminal Division for the Attorney General, says that she will roll out a comprehensive plan detailing what changes she’d make as mayor in the coming weeks. In an interview with the AFRO, she said her experience prosecuting crime could be a big asset to the city. “I’ve seen what can work, but what I’ve also seen in the criminal justice system is what happens when every system does not work. To me, the criminal justice system is what you see when everything fails,” she said. Officially filed: no
Patrick Gutierre
Gutierrez is a former bank executive who believes he can take the skills he learned in that job, and use them to make Baltimore better. “Seeing the dysfunction in city government and knowing my background as an operations manager was specifically to go in and address the same problems that city government has. You know, there’s no accountability anywhere, there’s no transparency, the communication is poor and when you have those things you get the results that we’re getting,” he said in an interview with the AFRO. On his website, he has posted his five steps to a better police department – a plan that calls for body cameras, a better civilian review board and incentives for officers to live in the communities they police in, among other things. Officially filed: yes
Joshua Harris
Community organizer and communications worker Joshua Harris outlines his solutions to things like housing, energy and social justice on his campaign website. In the speech he gave announcing his candidacy for mayor, he said that some of the city’s woes stem from a communication breakdown between city leaders and residents “, the traditional and older model is send a message-receiver, and I also believe that that is the common mode that the city operates under . . . we are the sender, we want to get out, and you receive it. We also now have to incorporate the feedback,” he said. Officially filed: yes
Nick Mosby
Nick Mosby, who currently serves on the Baltimore City Council and is the husband of State Prosecutor Marilyn Mosby, has issued a 15-point plan of what he would do as mayor called “Connecting the Dots.” The plan targets things like education, public safety and jobs. “City Hall’s job is to Connect the Dots that define our wellbeing, providing an honest, reliable vision that guides our residents along their individual paths to shared success,” he writes on his website. Officially filed: no
Catherine Pugh
This is the current state senator’s second run for mayor of Baltimore. She has also served on the Baltimore City Council and was appointed to the Maryland General Assembly, House of Delegates. On her website, she points to her long career in politics as proof she’d be a good mayor for the city. She says she has passed over 150 pieces of legislation. Officially filed: yes
Carl Stokes
On his website, the city councilmember writes that he believes that investing in neighborhoods and redeveloping abandoned housing are keys to making Baltimore better. He underscores this statement with a reprint of the speech he gave when he announced his candidacy back in December. “When I am mayor, there will be new standards for Tax Increment Financing. You want help? You show that you will benefit a community – parks, jobs, capital improvements. And the community will decide what they need before any TIF is granted. We will invest in neighborhoods and there will be accountability,” the speech reads. Officially filed: no
David Warnock
The businessman and philanthropist told the AFRO that he is working on a comprehensive plan detailing the changes he’d make as mayor, with help from people like former Maryland State Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick and Community College of Baltimore County president Sandra Kurtinitis. “I think this election is about ideas, it’s about change and it’s about whether we’re ok with business as usual,” he said. “There are tactical things that are in her plan and in Nick’s plan that we’ll all do. The question is, are you really going to create sustainable significant change for the city?” Officially filed: yes
Calvin Young
In a September interview with the AFRO, Young said that his work as a jet engine engineer and as National Chairperson for the National Society of Black Engineers could help him lead the city. He said that as mayor, he would focus on education, removing lead from city homes and improving the relationship between the police and he community. “I’m running to provide a counterpoint to what we’ve heard about our city for decades – crime, drugs, homicides – that does not have to be what Baltimore is about moving forward,” he said. Officially filed: yes