Baltimore City Council
Legislature of Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Legislature of Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Baltimore City Council is the legislative branch that governs the City of Baltimore. It has 14 members elected by district and a president elected at-large; all serve four-year terms. The council holds regular meetings on alternate Monday evenings on the fourth floor of the Baltimore City Hall.[1] The council has seven standing committees, all of which must have at least three members.[2] As of 2022, the president receives an annual salary of $131,798, the vice president gets $84,729 and the rest of councillors receive $76,660.[3][4][5] The current city council president, Zeke Cohen, was sworn in on December 5, 2024.
Baltimore City Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Council President | |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 15 |
 | |
Political groups |
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| Committees | List
|
| Elections | |
| Electoral districts with four-year terms | |
Last election | November 5, 2024 |
| Meeting place | |
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| Baltimore City Hall Council Chamber Baltimore, MD | |
| Website | |
| Official website | |
During its early history the council was composed exclusively of white, non-Jewish males.[6] In 1826, the Maryland General Assembly passed the "Jew Bill", which allowed Jews to hold public office in the state. Two leaders in the fight for the law were Jacob I. Cohen Jr. (1789–1869) and Solomon Etting (1764–1847), who subsequently won election to the council and became the first Jewish officeholders in the state.[7] In 1890, Harry Sythe Cummings was elected to the council, becoming the state's first black elected official. In the 40 years after 1890, six black Republicans won elections to the council.
In 2003, as a result of the ballot initiative Question P, the Baltimore City Council went from six three-member districts to 14 single-member districts. The council president continued to be elected at-large resulting in a legislative body consisting of a total of 15 members.
Since 1926, Baltimore City elections occurred the year following the gubernatorial cycle with elected officials taking office in the same year as the election. From the 1920s to the 1970s city elections were held in the spring, with primary elections in March and the general election in May, with the winners also taking office in May. In the 1970s the elections were changed to the fall, with the primary occurring in September and the general in November and the winners taking office in December. In 2012 the city's elections were moved to coincide with the presidential election cycle. This changed the 2015 election to 2016 and gave councilmembers elected in 2011 a five-year term.[8]
Reflecting the near-total dominance of the Democratic Party in city politics, no Republican has been elected to the council since 1939.
The council president is elected citywide. The council president presides over the council and serves as a voting member. In addition to their role on the council, the council president is also president of the Board of Estimates and serves as ex officio mayor pro tempore. In the event the mayor's office falls vacant, the council president automatically becomes mayor for the balance of the term. If the position of council president is vacant, the members of the council elect the new council president.
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| Term | Name | Party | Notes[9] |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1923–1930 | Howard Bryant† | Democratic | Had been the president of the 2nd Branch of the City Council, prior to the change to a unicameral council. Died in office in September 1930. |
| 1930–1931* | James O'Meara | Democratic** | Was vice president of the council and served as acting president following Bryant's death in September 1930. O'Meara was a Democrat, however he was elected and supported by the Republican members of the council, who he primarily voted with. |
| 1931–1935 | E. Lester Muller | Democratic | Lost re-election in the primary coming in third behind Sellmayer and John Meyer. |
| 1935–1939 | George Sellmayer | Democratic | In the 1935 election, John Meyer initially was called the winner on election night with 24 votes, after a recount, Sellmayer won.[10][11] Lost re-election in the primary to O'Connell in 1939 |
| 1939–1943 | Richard O'Connell | Democratic | Lost re-election in the primary to Conlon in 1943 |
| 1943 | Thomas Conlon† | Democratic | Died in office. Served from May to October 1943 |
| 1943–1951 | C. Markland Kelly♯ | Democratic | First elected as Council President by the council in October 1943, following Conlon's death. Was re-elected in 1947. He chose to run for mayor as an independent in 1951 instead of re-election and lost in his bid for the mayoralty. Resigned as Council President 10 days early. |
| 1951–1955 | Arthur B. Price | Democratic | Elected by the voters in the 1951 election, and elected by the council to fill the last 10 days of Kelly's term. Ran for mayor in 1955 and lost the primary to Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr. |
| 1955–1959 | Leon Abramson | Democratic | Running on a ticket with Mayor D'Alesandro, Abramson lost re-election in the primary to Goodman. |
| 1959–1962 | Philip Goodman♯ | Democratic | In 1959 he ran on a joint ticket with J. Harold Grady for mayor and R. Walter Graham Jr. for comptroller, and all 3 won. Resigned as Council President in December 1962 to become mayor upon Grady's resignation of the mayoralty to become a judge |
| 1962–1967 | Thomas D'Alesandro III | Democratic | First elected Council President by the council in December 1962. Re-elected in 1963. Ran for mayor in 1967 and won. |
| 1967–1971 | William Donald Schaefer | Democratic | Ran for mayor in 1971 and won |
| 1971–1982 | Walter Orlinsky♯ | Democratic | Resigned as Council President on October 18, 1982, due to conviction on bribery and corruption charges. |
| 1982–1987 | Clarence "Du" Burns♯ | Democratic | Du Burns was the first African-American Council President. He was Council Vice President and first elected as Council President in October 1982 by the council following Orlinsky's resignation. Resigned as council president to become mayor in January 1987 following Mayor Schaefer's election as governor |
| 1987 | Frank X. Gallagher | Democratic | Served from January to December 1987. He was a 3rd District councilman and was elected Council President upon Burns' resignation to become mayor. He did not run for re-election in 1987, retiring from politics. |
| 1987–1995 | Mary Pat Clarke | Democratic | Mary Pat Clarke was the first female council president. She had previously served as a 2nd District councilwoman from 1975 to 1983 and had run for Council President in 1983, losing the primary to Burns. She ran for mayor in 1995 and lost the primary election to Mayor Kurt Schmoke |
| 1995–1999 | Lawrence Bell | Democratic | Ran for mayor in 1997 and lost the primary election to 3rd District Councilman Martin O'Malley |
| 1999–2007 | Sheila Dixon♯ | Democratic | Resigned in January 2007 to become mayor following O'Malley's election as governor |
| 2007–2010 | Stephanie Rawlings-Blake♯ | Democratic | She was the 6th District councilwoman and was first elected Council President by the council in January 2007 following Dixon's resignation. Resigned as council president to become mayor on February 4, 2010, due to Dixon's resignation as mayor following a corruption trial. |
| 2010–2019 | Bernard C. "Jack" Young♯ | Democratic | He was the 12th district councilman and was first elected Council President by the council in February 2010 due to Rawlings-Blake's elevation to mayor. Resigned himself in May 2019 to become mayor. |
| 2019 | Sharon Green Middleton | Democratic | She served as Council President Ex-Officio from April 2, 2019, until May 6, 2019, while President Young served as Mayor Ex-Officio and between the time he succeeded to the mayoralty and the Council voted on Young's successor. She held this position as virtue of serving as Council Vice President and she was the 6th district councilwoman. |
| 2019–2020 | Brandon Scott | Democratic | He was the 2nd district councilman and was first elected Council President by the council on May 6, 2019, due to Young's resignation to become mayor |
| 2020–2024 | Nick Mosby | Democratic | He was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from the 40th district and elected Council President in the November 2020 general election |
| 2024–present | Zeke Cohen | Democratic | He was the 1st district councilman and elected Council President in the November 2024 general election after defeating then-council chair Nick Mosby in the Democratic primary |
† Died in Office ♯ Resigned as Council President
The records of the City Council, dates ranging from 1797 to 1987, reside at the Baltimore City Archives in Record Group BRG16.[12] The collection includes administrative files, volumes of proceedings, joint council session reports, correspondence, ordinances and resolutions, committee bills, hearing schedules, and other records.
| District | Locale | Member | Party | Elected | Primary Committee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southeast | Mark Parker | Democratic | 2024 | Education, Young, & Older Adults (vice chair)[13] |
| 2 | Northeast | Danielle McCray | Democratic | Appointed June 2019 | Budget (chair) |
| 3 | Morgan State, Harford Road | Ryan Dorsey | Democratic | 2016 | Transportation (chair) |
| 4 | Mark Conway | Democratic | 2020 | Public Safety (chair), Public Health & Environment (vice chair) | |
| 5 | Northwest | Isaac Schleifer | Democratic | 2016 | Legislative Investigations (chair), Budget (vice chair) |
| 6 | Park Heights, Roland Park | Sharon Green Middleton | Democratic | 2007[14] | Council Vice President, Transportation & Land Use (vice chair) |
| 7 | James Torrence | Democratic | 2020 | Housing & Economic Development (chair), Labor & Workforce (vice chair) | |
| 8 | Edmondson Village, Forest Park | Paris Gray | Democratic | 2024 | |
| 9 | West | John Bullock | Democratic | 2016 | Education, Young, & Older Adults (chair) |
| 10 | Cherry Hill | Phylicia Porter | Democratic | 2020 | Public Health & Environment (chair) |
| 11 | Downtown | Zac Blanchard | Democratic | 2024 | Public Safety (vice chair) |
| 12 | Greenmount, Jonestown | Jermaine Jones | Democratic | 2024 | Labor & Workforce (chair) |
| 13 | East Baltimore | Antonio Glover | Democratic | 2020 | Legislative Investigations (vice chair) |
| 14 | Charles Village | Odette Ramos | Democratic | 2020 | Housing & Economic Development (vice chair) |
| Council President | — | Zeke Cohen | Democratic | 2024 | Council President |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1923-1927 | Frank G. Dotterneich | John C. Heethwecker | Edward J. Novack | Ambrose J. Kennedy | Edward S. Stanley | August Kleka | Thomas J. Flaherty | G. Edward Markley | Harry J. McClellan | Beverly W. Smith | Daniel Ellison | William G. Towers | John T. Ford | George M. Griffin | Chester P. Woodward | Frank F. Busch | Samuel Y. Harris | James J. O'Meara | ||
| 1927-1931 | Frank J. Baner | James B. Blake | Philander B. Briscoe | John P. Brandan | Warren Burgess | Lawrence W. Houston | Walter S. Emerson | Warner T. McGuinn | William G. Albrecht | Thomas L.A. Musgrove | Howard M. Rollins | |||||||||
| 1931-1934 | William I. Flynn | George W. Koning | Richard C. O'Connell | Joseph L. Ruth | Howard A. Sweeten | Meyer Reamer | Sidney R. Traub | Jerome Sloman | Charles J. Wells | Thomas J. Collins | Lawrence F. Awalt | William J. Murphy | ||||||||
| 1934-1938 | William Bonnett | Thomas D'Alesandro, Jr. | James L. Hennegan | J. Robinson Boland | James T. Klima | John T. Mullin, Sr. | James B. Beale | John T Wills | William J. Bailey | |||||||||||
| 1939-1943 | Samuel N. Friedel | Lawrence F. Appel | James B. Blake | John F. Conroy | James F. Arthur | George Hyde Fallon | Leon Abramson | Jacob J. Edelman | John J. Griffen | Robert Viehmyer | ||||||||||
| 1943-1947 | Simon P. Jarosinski | Medio Walt | John T Mullin, Sr. | Maxwell Alpert | Charles E. Falter | Ella A. Bailey | Edward A. Freburger | Louis W. Kotmair | ||||||||||||
| 1947-1951 | John T. Booth | Ambrose J. Kennedy, Jr. | Anthony F. DiDomenico | Walter J. Dewees | H. Warren Buckler Jr. | William J. Muth | John H. Reed | John J. McMenamen | Charles H. Wenger | |||||||||||
| 1951-1955 | James J. Duffy | Joseph A. Bertorelli | C. Lyman Schueler | Anna F. Arthur | C. Meredith Boyce | Frank J. Flynn | Samuel N. Friedel | Phillip H. Goodman | Michael J. McHale | William M. Hudnet | ||||||||||
| 1955-1959 | Joseph J. Staszak | Chester J. Ray | James Joseph Welsh, Jr. | J. Joseph Curran | Richard D. Byrd | Henry R. Hergenroeder | Walter T. Dixon | Maurice J. Soypher | William Donald Schaefer | Michael J. Hankin | Jacob J. Edelman | Leon A. Ruben Stein | Thomas P. Fallon | |||||||
| 1959-1963 | Clement J. Prucha | Anthony F. DiDomenico | Peter G. Angelos | George W. Arthur | Frank X. Gallagher | Soloman Liss | ||||||||||||||
| 1963-1967 | Charles Panuska | Thomas H Ward | J. Joseph Curran | John A. Pica | Henry G. Parks, Jr. | Reuben Caplan | Dominic M. Leone | John J. Hines | William J. Myers | |||||||||||
| 1967-1971 | Dominic 'Mimi' DiPietro | Joseph V. Mach | Robert L. Douglass | Robert C. Embry Jr. | Victorine Q. Adams | Emerson R. Julian | Alexander Stark | |||||||||||||
| 1971-1975 | John A. Schaefer | Barbara A. Mikulski | Clarence H. 'Du' Burns | Robert J. Fitzpatrick | Carroll J. Fitzgerald | Mary B. Adams | Allen B. Spector | Charles H. Wheatley | ||||||||||||
| 1975-1979 | Mary Pat Carke | Nathan C. Irby, Jr. | Michael B. Mitchell | Thomas J.S. Waxter Jr. | Joseph P. Murphy | |||||||||||||||
| 1979-1983 | Donald G. Hammen | Martin E Curran | Norman Reeves | Thomas J.S. Waxter Jr. | Rochelle 'Rikki' Spector | George Della, Jr. | ||||||||||||||
| 1983-1987 | Anthony J. Ambridge | Jacqueline F. McLean | Nathaniel J. McFadden | Joseph Jodie T. Landers III | Kweisi Mfume | Agnes B. Welch | Iris G. Reeves | Joseph J. DiBlasi | Timothy D. Murphy | |||||||||||
| 1987-1991 | Nicholas C. D'Adamo, Jr. | Carl Stokes | Wilber E. Cunningham | Lawrence A. Bell | Sheila Dixon | Vera P. Hall | ||||||||||||||
| 1991-1995 | John L. Cain | Peter Sfikas | Paula Johnson Branch | Martin O'Malley | Melvin L. Stukes | |||||||||||||||
| 1995-1999 | Lois Garey | Robert L. Douglass | Robert W. 'Bobby' Curran | Joan Carter Conway | Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr. | Helen L. Holton | Stephanie C. Rawlings-Blake | Norman A. Handy, Sr. | Edward L. Reisinger | |||||||||||
| 1999-2004 | Bea Gaddy | Bernard C. 'Jack' Young | Lisa Joi Stancil | Kenneth Harris, Sr. | Catherine E. Pugh | |||||||||||||||
Sharon Green Middleton (D)
William "Pete" Welch (D)
Carl Stokes (D)
Eric Costello (D)
*Elected Council President by the council in January 2007. Sharon Green Middleton was elected by the council to fill Rawlings-Blake's seat.
^ Agnes Welch resigned her seat December 2010. The council elected her son William "Pete" Welch to fill her seat in January 2011. He was re-elected in 2011 and lost the primary in 2016.
** Bill Cole resigned his seat on August 30, 2014, to become the president of the Baltimore Development Corporation. Eric Costello was elected by the council in October 2014.
^^Bernard C. "Jack" Young was elected Council President by the council in February 2010. The Council elected former councilman Carl Stokes to the seat.
***Paula Johnson Branch resigned her seat on March 2, 2007. The council elected Vernon Crider to the seat on April 16, 2007, and he lost re-election in the primary later that year.
^^^Brandon Scott was elected Council President by the council on May 6, 2019.
All 14 seats on the city council are being defended by the Democrats in the 2020 election.[15]
| Baltimore City Council elections, 2020[16] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidates | Votes | Seats | ||||||
| No. | % | ∆pp | No. | ∆No. | % | ||||
| Maryland Democratic Party | 14 | 183,627 | 89.53 | +4.09 | 14 | 0 | 100.00 | ||
| Maryland Republican Party | 9[a] | 14,007 | 6.83 | -1.28 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Maryland Green Party | 1 | 4,868 | 2.37 | -0.45 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Write-in | N/A | 2,609 | 1.27 | -0.02 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Ujima People's Progress Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.54 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Total | 205,111 | 100.00 | ±0 | 14 | ±0 | 100.00 | |||
Democrats are also defending the separately elected position of City Council President.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Nick Mosby | 178,689 | 79.5% | |
| Republican | Jovani Patterson | 42,628 | 19.0% | |
| Other | Write-ins | 3,361 | 1.5% | |
| Total votes | 224,678 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
All 14 seats on the city council were retained by the Democrats in the 2016 election.[17]
| Baltimore City Council Elections, 2016 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidates | Votes | Seats | ||||||
| No. | % | ∆pp | No. | ∆No. | % | ||||
| Maryland Democratic Party | 14 | 174,070 | 85.44 | +2.49 | 14 | 0 | 100.00 | ||
| Maryland Republican Party | 8 | 16,529 | 8.11 | +1.48 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Maryland Green Party | 4 | 5,749 | 2.82 | +0.58 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Unaffiliated | 3 | 3,650 | 1.79 | +1.79 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Write-in | N/A | 2,633 | 1.29 | −5.98 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Ujima People's Progress Party | 1 | 1,107 | 0.54 | +0.54 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Maryland Libertarian Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.89 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Total | 203,738 | 100.00 | ±0 | 14 | ±0 | 100.00 | |||
In addition to retaining absolute control of the City Council, the Democrats held the separately elected position of City Council President.[17]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bernard C. "Jack" Young | 173,065 | 76.0 | |
| Republican | Shannon Wright | 27,408 | 12.0 | |
| Green | Connor Meek | 11,119 | 4.9 | |
| Independent | Sharon Black | 8,368 | 3.7 | |
| Libertarian | Susan Gaztanaga | 6,380 | 2.8 | |
| Other | Write-ins | 1,300 | 0.6 | |
| Total votes | 227,640 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
All 14 seats on the city council were being defended by the Democrats in the 2011 election.[18]
| Baltimore City Council Elections, 2011[19] | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidates | Votes | Seats | ||||||
| No. | % | ∆pp | No. | ∆No. | % | ||||
| Maryland Democratic Party | 14 | 38.779 | 82.95 | N/A | 14 | 0 | 100.00 | ||
| Write-in | N/A | 3,397 | 7.27 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Maryland Republican Party | 8 | 3,103 | 6.63 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Maryland Green Party | 2 | 1,051 | 2.24 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Maryland Libertarian Party | 3 | 417 | 0.89 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | ||
| Total | 46,747 | 100.00 | ±0 | 14 | ±0 | 100.00 | |||
Democrats also defended the separately elected position of City Council President.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Bernard C. "Jack" Young | 38,708 | 82.7% | |
| Republican | David A. Wiggins | 4,967 | 10.6% | |
| Libertarian | Lorenzo Gaztanaga | 2,480 | 5.3% | |
| Other | Write-ins | 670 | 1.4% | |
| Total votes | 46,825 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
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