Scott Takes Commanding Lead in Baltimore’s Mayor’s Race

SCOTT LEAD WIDENS: Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott widened his lead over former Mayor Sheila Dixon as thousands more votes were tallied Monday in Baltimore’s Democratic mayoral primary, reports Talia Richman for the Sun.

• Scott’s lead now stands at 1,385 votes, the latest data posted by the Maryland State Board of Elections show. He’s ahead by a full percentage point, 29.1% to 28.1%, Ian Rounds of Baltimore Brew reports.

PRATT OUT AS COMPTROLLER; MOSBY IN AS COUNCIL PREZ: Talia Richman of the Sun also reports on other leadership races in Baltimore city, including:

• Baltimore City Councilman Bill Henry declared victory over incumbent Joan Pratt in the Democratic primary for comptroller, an upset that means someone new will serve as the city’s fiscal watchdog for the first time in 25 years.
• State Del. Nick Mosby has won the Democratic primary for City Council president, setting him up for a term as Baltimore’s No. 2 official after the first competitive contest for the position in about a decade.
• Emily Sullivan of WYPR-FM reports on the races.

CANVASSING CONTINUES: Canvassing continues this morning exactly one week after the state’s primary. City Election Director Armstead Jones said the next step will be completing provisional ballots Tuesday, Leah Crawley for WBFF-TV reports.

VOTERS FEEL DISCONNECTED: Baltimore’s first-ever mail-in election has many voters feeling disconnected from the process, reports Jeff Abell for WBFF-TV. “They should have opened the polls up,” said Janet Schmidt, owner of a Hampden salon.

GANSLER: POLICE REVIEWS NEEDED: Former Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler told MarylandReporter on Monday that every police department in the state should undergo an independent review of its policies and procedures, Bryan Renbaum reports.

COLLEGES CONSIDER WAYS TO REOPEN: As Maryland colleges consider reopening, leaders of many higher education institutions in the Baltimore area said on Monday they are pursuing a hybrid system, which combines in-person instruction with remote learning, Elisabeth Shwe reports for Maryland Matters.

• Ellie Heffernan of the Daily Record writes that higher ed leaders warned that the twin crises of the coronavirus pandemic and racial inequities are taking a toll on Maryland college campuses.

QUICKER REOPENING SOUGHT: Owners of more than a dozen businesses from Kent Island to Ocean City called on Gov. Larry Hogan to further ease restrictions that would allow them to return to operating closer to where they were before the COVID-19 pandemic, Bryan Sears of the Daily Record reports.

• Bethesda restaurant owner Bob Brooksbank said he was happy to see people coming back out to support the restaurants again. But he questioned why the majority of Maryland has moved faster with reopening than Montgomery County, Briana Adhikusuma reports in Bethesda Beat.

OPINION: WHERE IS THE CHILD-CARE? Maggie Cordish and Linda Smith, child-care policy advisors, write in an op-ed for the Sun, that “As Maryland enters stage two of the governor’s ‘Roadmap to Recovery’ plan with thousands of nonessential workers heading back to work, it’s becoming abundantly clear that there’s nowhere for our children to go.”

BLACK LIVES MATTERS PROTESTS CONTINUE: Last week, Black Lives Matter protests were held every day in Westminster in front of the Carroll County Public Library on East Main Street. The protests will continue this week, Akira Kyles reports for the Carroll County Times.

• Even before heading across Airport Drive East to the Frederick County Law Enforcement Center on Monday, a group of well over 100 protesters made their position clear. “Sheriff [Chuck] Jenkins is a racist,” Kavonte Duckett told the crowd gathered in front of the Frederick Department of Public Works facility using a megaphone, Jeremy Arias of the Frederick News-Post reports.

OPINION: GREEN JOBS GROWTH: In a column for the Post, Mike Tidwell of Chesapeake Climate Action Network opines that, in times of crisis like we are in now, “we need the government to stimulate economic growth. And polls show that ‘green’ job expansion through clean energy is a priority for Marylanders.”

SOYBEAN BOARD SEEKS INPUT: Hannah Himes of the Frederick News-Post writes that the Maryland Soybean Board is accepting proposals about how to “use or promote soybeans or its many byproducts.” Proposals are due by July 15.

PITTMAN SEEKS TO ADDRESS GUN VIOLENCE: As Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman attempts to address gun violence in his county, he tells Bennett Leckrone of Maryland Matters, “It’s not a Second Amendment issue at all, in my view. It is completely a health issue. “

PG SCHOOLS MAY JETTISON COPS: The Prince George’s County Board of Education will consider a resolution Thursday to end its agreement with law enforcement to place armed school resource officers in buildings, saying the presence of officers in school is counterproductive to the board’s goal of keeping students out of prison, Rachael Pacella of the Capital Gazette reports.

REP. HARRIS STAYS LOYAL TO TRUMP: Early in his bid for the White House, Donald Trump boasted that his supporters were “the most loyal people.” And few high-ranking officials have stood by the embattled president more loyally than Rep. Andy Harris, the sole Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation, writes Bruce DePuyt for Maryland Matters.