Mayoral election in Baltimore, Maryland (2020)
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| 2020 Baltimore elections |
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| Election dates |
| Filing deadline: January 24, 2020 |
| Primary election: June 2, 2020 General election: November 3, 2020 |
| Election stats |
| Offices up: mayor |
| Total seats up: 1 (click here for other city elections) |
| Election type: Partisan |
| Other municipal elections |
| U.S. municipal elections, 2020 |
The city of Baltimore, Maryland, held a general election for mayor on November 3, 2020. A primary was scheduled for June 2, 2020. The filing deadline for this election was January 24, 2020.
This election was originally scheduled on April 28, 2020. In an announcement on March 17, 2020, Gov. Larry Hogan (R) postponed the statewide primary election from April 28, 2020, to June 2, 2020, amid concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.[1]
Election procedure changes in 2020
Ballotpedia provided comprehensive coverage of how election dates and procedures changed in 2020. While the majority of changes occurred as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, some changes occurred for other reasons.
Maryland modified its absentee/mail-in and candidate filing procedures, early voting, and polling places for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:
- Absentee/mail-in voting: Absentee/mail-in ballot request forms sent to all qualified voters in the general election. The return deadline for absentee/mail-in ballot requests was October 20, 2020.
- Candidate filing procedures: The petition signature requirement for obtaining party status for the Green and Libertarian parties was reduced from 10,000 to 5,000 signatures. The nomination petition signature requirement for unaffiliated candidates was reduced by 50 percent.
- Early voting: An early voting period ran from October 26, 2020 through November 2, 2020.
- Polling places: All early voting centers and Election Day polling locations were open on November 3, 2020. The Maryland State Board of Elections operated a limited number of centralized voting centers in lieu of precinct polling places for in-person voting in the general election.
For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.
Candidates and results
General election
General election for Mayor of Baltimore
Brandon Scott defeated Bob Wallace, Shannon Wright, and David Harding in the general election for Mayor of Baltimore on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Brandon Scott (D) | 70.5 | 164,661 |
 | Bob Wallace (Independent) | 20.2 | 47,275 | |
 | Shannon Wright (R) | 7.1 | 16,664 | |
 | David Harding (Working Class Party) | 1.7 | 3,973 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 1,006 | ||
| Total votes: 233,579 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Kahan Singh Dhillon Jr. (Unaffiliated)
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Mayor of Baltimore
The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for Mayor of Baltimore on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Brandon Scott | 29.6 | 43,927 |
 | Sheila Dixon | 27.5 | 40,782 | |
| Mary Miller | 15.6 | 23,193 | ||
 | Thiru Vignarajah | 11.5 | 17,080 | |
 | Jack Young | 6.2 | 9,256 | |
| T.J. Smith | 5.8 | 8,593 | ||
| Carlmichael Stokey Cannady | 1.7 | 2,473 | ||
 | Mary Washington (Unofficially withdrew) | 0.7 | 1,028 | |
 | Valerie Cunningham | 0.2 | 339 | |
 | Keith Scott | 0.2 | 303 | |
 | Yasaun Young | 0.1 | 188 | |
| Ralph Johnson Jr. | 0.1 | 177 | ||
 | Yolanda Pulley | 0.1 | 152 | |
| Lou Catelli | 0.1 | 151 | ||
| Dante Swinton | 0.1 | 143 | ||
| Michael Douglas Jenson | 0.1 | 131 | ||
| Brian Salsberry | 0.1 | 129 | ||
| Rikki Vaughn | 0.1 | 116 | ||
| Liri Fusha | 0.0 | 57 | ||
| Terry Jay McCready | 0.0 | 46 | ||
| Sean Bernard Gresh | 0.0 | 45 | ||
| James Jones | 0.0 | 33 | ||
 | Erik Powery | 0.0 | 32 | |
| Frederick D. Ware-Newsome | 0.0 | 31 | ||
| Total votes: 148,405 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Mayor of Baltimore
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Mayor of Baltimore on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Shannon Wright | 29.1 | 1,630 |
| Catalina Byrd | 19.0 | 1,068 | ||
| William Herd | 13.5 | 757 | ||
| David Anthony Wiggins | 13.0 | 729 | ||
| Ivan Gonzalez | 12.0 | 671 | ||
 | Zulieka Baysmore | 11.4 | 641 | |
| Collins Otonna | 2.0 | 112 | ||
| Total votes: 5,608 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Maryland elections, 2020
Mayoral partisanship
Once mayors elected in 2020 assumed office, the mayors of 65 of the country's 100 largest cities were affiliated with the Democratic Party.
Mayoral elections were held in 29 of the 100 largest U.S. cities in 2020. Seven party changes took place as a result of these 29 elections. Five offices held by Republican incumbents and two offices held by Democratic incumbents changed partisan control.
In Scottsdale, Arizona, independent David Ortega won the open seat. Incumbent Jim Lane (R) was term-limited. In Irvine, California, Democrat Farrah Khan defeated incumbent Christina Shea (R). In San Diego, California, Democrat Todd Gloria won the open seat. The incumbent, Kevin Faulconer (R), was term-limited. In Stockton, California, Republican Kevin Lincoln II defeated incumbent Michael Tubbs (D). In Honolulu, Hawaii, independent Rick Blangiardi won the open seat. Democratic mayor Kirk Caldwell was term-limited. In El Paso, Texas, Democrat Oscar Leeser defeated incumbent Donald Margo (R). In Corpus Christi, Texas, nonpartisan Paulette Guajardo defeated incumbent Joe McComb (R).
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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Candidate survey
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About the city
- See also: Baltimore, Maryland
Baltimore is an independent city in Maryland. As of 2020, its population was 585,708.
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government
The city of Baltimore uses a strong mayor and city council system. In this form of municipal government, the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body while the mayor serves as the city's chief executive.
Demographics
The following table displays demographic data provided by the United States Census Bureau.
| Demographic Data for Baltimore, Maryland | ||
|---|---|---|
| Baltimore | Maryland | |
| Population | 585,708 | 6,177,224 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 80 | 9,711 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White | 29.7% | 54.2% |
| Black/African American | 62.3% | 29.9% |
| Asian | 2.5% | 6.4% |
| Native American | 0.3% | 0.3% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% | 0% |
| Other (single race) | N/A | 4.7% |
| Multiple | 3.2% | 4.5% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 5.4% | 10.3% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate | 85.5% | 90.6% |
| College graduation rate | 32.9% | 40.9% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income | $52,164 | $87,063 |
| Persons below poverty level | 20% | 9% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2015-2020). | ||
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
Pivot Counties
- See also: Pivot Counties by state
There are no Pivot Counties in Maryland. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.
In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won Maryland with 60.3 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 33.9 percent. In presidential elections between 1789 and 2016, Maryland voted Democratic 52 percent of the time and Republican 21 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, Maryland voted Democratic all five times.[2]
See also
| Baltimore, Maryland | Maryland | Municipal government | Other local coverage |
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External links
Footnotes
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