Baltimore County Democrats celebrated at the Board of Elections Thursday night, after getting the latest tally of mail-in and provisional ballots. There was clapping and hugs all around for an election they called historic.
“Three women, three women,” said Shawn McIntosh, after hugging Arkia Wade.
Both women ran for the county council and were in races whose outcomes have hung in the balance as mail-in votes have been counted. A third woman, Makeda Scott, easily won her election to the council’s 3rd District, which includes Owings Mills.
The current county council is made up of seven men.
After Thursday’s count of about 8,000 provisional and mail-in ballots, Wade has a 92 vote lead over Republican Tim Fazenbaker in the 9th Council District, which includes Dundalk. On Election Night, Fazenbaker was ahead by more than 1,000 votes but Wade has dominated the mail-in and provisional count. Provisional and mail-in ballots were cast by Election Day and have been counted over the past week.
Wade and other Democrats are confident her lead will only grow when the counting is wrapped on Friday and the election is certified.
If that holds true, Wade agreed it will be an historic election.
“I’m flipping a seat from red to blue,” Wade said. “I’m putting a Muslim Black woman on the county council. I’m bringing community together.”
“Arkia, she would be the first African American to represent that area,” said Del. Kim Ross, who is the first Black woman to represent Maryland’s 8th legislative district,
There are still about four thousand votes remaining to be counted county-wide.
“It’s not over,” said Al Mendelsohn, who serves on the Baltimore County Republican Committee and was also observing the count.
If Wade wins, it will cement a 7-2 super majority for the Democrats on the county council.
McIntosh flipped the 5th district, which runs from the Beltway to the Pennsylvania line from red to blue by beating Republican Councilman Nino Mangione, who had both more money and name recognition in that race.
After Thursday’s vote count McIntosh, who like Wade was behind on Election Night, now holds a more than 2,000 vote lead.
“It is certainly statistically impossible for Nino Mangione to catch up tomorrow (Friday), said Ian Miller, McIntosh’s campaign manager. “Shawn McIntosh will be elected to the Baltimore County Council and we feel very confident that Arkia Wade will be right there with us.”
Not all of the close elections went the Democrats’ way.
In the 8th council district, which includes Middle River, Republican Josh Sines said in a social media post that he is “extremely confident” that he has won the election over Democrat Sharonda Dillard-Huffman.
“While the remaining provisional ballots are still being counted, we fully respect the election process and will wait for its completion on Friday before making our formal victory announcement,” Sines said.
Dillard-Huffman had been narrowing the gap as the mail-in ballots were counted, but after Thursday, Sines led by about 1,200 votes.
Thursday’s numbers were announced around 10:15 pm. The Democrats who were there to hear it included Baltimore County Executive-Elect Julian Jones and state. Sen. Charles Sydnor. Jones played the sound of a drum roll on his phone just before Elections Director Ruie Lavoie read aloud the results.
Dundalk’s council seat had been in Democratic hands until 2014. That year a Republican tide swept Larry Hogan into the governor’s office.
Jones said, “Now it appears to be a possibility that that shift will go back the other way and Dundalk will come home to the Democratic Party.”
At one point, two council members-elect, Democrats Ruben Amaya and Makeda Scott, were watching the count even though their races were settled.
They reflect the diversity to come to the council.
Amaya is the first Latino to be elected to the Baltimore County Council. Scott is the first Black woman to be elected to the body. If Wade wins her election, she will join her.
The county council was expanded from seven to nine seats in part to make it more likely that diverse candidates could be elected.
2026 was also the first year public financing was available for council candidates in order to open the door for more diverse people to run. Four who used public money to help fund their campaigns won, including McIntosh, Scott, Amaya and Democrat Paul Dongarra in the 1st Council District.
Source: www.wypr.org
