Thirteen candidates are running in the Democratic primary for mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, on May 14, 2024. Three lead in fundraising and local media attention: incumbent Brandon Scott (D), Sheila Dixon (D), and Bob Wallace (D).
Local political observers say crime is a central issue for both the Scott and Dixon campaigns.
According to the Baltimore Sun, Dixon is likely to focus her campaign on a similar section of the electorate as in 2020, which it described as “Black voters, many of whom named crime as their top concern.” Dixon says her policies as mayor “led to 30-year record lows in crime and homicides.” Scott’s challenge “is more complicated that [sic] lowering the homicide rate. The battle is also over the public perception of crime among city residents, some of whom find little solace in the city’s diminished homicide count,” according to the Baltimore Sun.
