Baltimore County Democrats celebrated their vote at the Board of Elections Thursday night, after getting the final tally of absentee and provisional ballots. There were applause and hugs all around for an election they called historic.
“Three women, three women,” Shawn McIntosh said after hugging Arkia Wade.
Both women ran for county council and participated in elections whose results hung in the balance as mail-in votes were counted. A third woman, Makeda Scott, easily won her election to the 3rd council district, which includes Owings Mills.
The current departmental council is made up of seven men.
After about 8,000 provisional and absentee ballots were counted Thursday, Wade has a 92-vote lead over Republican Tim Fazenbaker in the 9th council district, which includes Dundalk. On election night, Fazenbaker was ahead by more than 1,000 votes, but Wade dominated the absentee and provisional count. Provisional and absentee ballots were cast on Election Day and have been counted over the past week.
Wade and other Democrats are confident his lead will only grow when the counting is completed Friday and the election is certified.
If true, Wade acknowledges it will be a historic election.
“I’m moving a seat from red to blue,” Wade said. “I’m appointing a black Muslim woman to the county council. I’m bringing the community together.”
“Arkia, she would be the first African American to represent this region,” Del said. Kim Ross, who is the first Black woman to represent Maryland’s 8th Legislative District.
There are still about four thousand votes left to count countywide.
“It’s not over,” said Al Mendelsohn, who serves on the Baltimore County Republican Committee and was also observing the count.
If Wade wins, it would solidify a 7-2 supermajority for Democrats on the County Council.
McIntosh flipped the 5th District, which stretches from the Beltway to the Pennsylvania line, from red to blue, defeating Republican Councilman Nino Mangione, who had both more money and name recognition in that race.
After Thursday’s vote count, McIntosh, who like Wade was late on election night, now holds a lead of more than 2,000 votes.
“It’s certainly statistically impossible for Nino Mangione to catch up tomorrow (Friday), said Ian Miller, McIntosh’s campaign manager. “Shawn McIntosh will be elected to the Baltimore County Council and we’re very confident that Arkia Wade will be there with us.”
Not all of the close elections went the Democratic way.
In the 8th Council District, which includes Middle River, Republican Josh Sines said in a social media post that he was “extremely confident” he won the election against Democrat Sharonda Dillard-Huffman.
“Although the remaining provisional ballots are still being counted, we fully respect the electoral process and will await its completion on Friday before officially announcing our victory,” Sines said.
Dillard-Huffman had narrowed the gap as mail-in ballots were counted, but after Thursday, Sines led by about 1,200 votes.
Thursday’s figures were announced around 10:15 p.m. Democrats who were there to hear him included Baltimore County Executive-elect Julian Jones and the state. Senator Charles Sydnor. Jones played the sound of a drum roll on his phone just before Elections Director Ruie Lavoie read the results aloud.
The Dundalk council seat was in Democratic hands until 2014. That year, a Republican wave swept Larry Hogan into the governor’s office.
Jones said: “It now seems possible that this shift will be reversed and Dundalk will return to the Democratic Party. »
At one point, two elected council members, Democrats Ruben Amaya and Makeda Scott, were watching the count even though their races were settled.
They reflect the diversity that will be present on the board.
Amaya is the first Latino to be elected to the Baltimore County Council. Scott is the first black woman to be elected to this body. If Wade wins his election, she will join her.
The county council was expanded from seven to nine seats, in part to make the election of diverse candidates more likely.
2026 was also the first year that public funding was available for council candidates to open the door to more diverse people. Four who used public money to finance their campaigns won, including McIntosh, Scott, Amaya and Democrat Paul Dongarra in the 1st Council District.
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