In local elections, every vote matters. That’s why the JUFJ Campaign Fund worked hard this year to support candidates in Baltimore and DC, and to educate Montgomery County voters about the Board of Education primary elections. Here’s what our work, alongside our partners, achieved this year:
Baltimore
HUGE news from the Baltimore City primary elections: All twelve of our endorsed candidates won!
Mazel Tov / congratulations to future City Councilmembers Zac Blanchard and Jermaine Jones, who defeated entrenched incumbents in Districts 11 and 12, and Mark Parker and Paris Gray, who snagged contested open seats in Districts 1 and 8. And Councilmember Zeke Cohen will be the next City Council President! All of these candidates fought hard for a vision of Baltimore where everyone can thrive.
We are deeply grateful to all of the JUFJ Campaign Fund members who interviewed candidates, knocked nearly 2,000 doors, made more than 600 phone calls, and got out the vote — YOU helped make the difference in these races, including some that very few people thought were winnable. Thanks also to everyone who worked to pass Baltimore’s Fair Elections program in 2019 and 2020 — we knew that public financing meant more candidates without deep pockets could have a real chance of winning, and this election proved that.
Mazel Tov also to endorsed Councilmembers Ryan Dorsey, Sharon Green Middleton, James Torrence, Phylicia Porter, and Odette Ramos on winning reelection, along with Mayor Brandon Scott and Comptroller Bill Henry. We look forward to working together with you and your new colleagues for a Baltimore that puts people over profit.
It’s been great to work with JUFJ Campaign Fund members these past few months, and even better to see our hard work pay off. We know the job is just now beginning, as we must continue to work to hold our elected officials accountable to the community. Plus there is exciting work in store for the November elections!
DC
We learned the results of the DC primary election earlier this month, and there was some great news and some less so. First, the good news:
Councilmember Janeese Lewis George won by a huge margin!
Despite challengers trying to attack Councilmember Lewis George’s record, on issues from constituent services to addressing the root causes of crime, Ward 4 voters resoundingly rejected that disingenuous attack. Councilmember Lewis George won every precinct in the Ward, and she will surely be reelected in November. We can’t wait to work with her to win housing security for everyone in DC.
In Ward 7, with ten candidates vying for an open seat, Eboni-Rose Thompson came up just short of victory, essentially tied for second place with Ebony Payne. Each of them took just over 20% of the vote. The winning candidate, Wendell Felder, had 23.69% of the vote. We’re proud to have endorsed Eboni-Rose Thompson, and proud of the values-based campaign she ran, even though we are disappointed in the result. But what might that result have been if we had ranked choice voting?
Right now, less than a quarter of primary voters in Ward 7 will have their chosen candidate represent them on the Council next year. More than 20% voted for Thompson, more than 20% voted for Payne, and the seven other candidates split the remaining third of the vote. If we pass Initiative 83, voters will get to say not only who is their first choice, but who is their second choice, and so on. In the end, only a candidate who has some support from a majority of the voters can be elected. That’s why we endorsed Initiative 83, to help make sure that our elected representatives are elected to represent all of us.
Montgomery County
Two candidates in each of three Board of Education races moved forward to the General Election. While the JUFJ Campaign Fund did not endorse in these elections, we talked to voters about the candidates our partners in MCEA and SEIU Local 500 had endorsed.
We’re proud that in all three races, the top vote-getter was a union-endorsed candidate, and in two out of three races, both union-endorsed candidates will be moving forward to the General Election:
In the At Large race, Lynn Harris (endorsed by SEIU Local 500) and Rita Montoya (endorsed by MCEA) are moving forward. In the District 4 race, Shebra Evans (endorsed by SEIU Local 500) and Laura Stewart (endorsed by MCEA) are moving forward.
In District 2, MCEA-endorsed candidate Natalie Zimmerman won by far the most votes, but the second place finisher was Brenda Diaz, who has been endorsed by right wing groups and who opposes critical race theory and LGBTQ+ inclusion. The JUFJ Campaign Fund will be educating voters on these important Board of Education races between now and the General Election.
