Year of special elections ends Tuesday in Prince George's, with election for county executive
A drop box in a parking lot next to Prince George's County Board of Elections on May 30. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)
Prince George's County's year of cascading special elections is almost over.
More than 62,000 Prince George's County voters had dropped off mail-in ballots as of Friday, ahead of Tuesday's special election to choose a new county executive and a new District 5 council member, a county election official said.
In-person turnout was light — just 307 voters on Wednesday, the first day of early voting and 396 on Thursday — but county Election Administrator Wendy Honesty-Bey attributed that to the week's rainy weather. 'It's been expected,' she said Friday.
There is one more day of early voting Monday before Election Day on Tuesday. The voting caps a year of upheaval in the county, where the election of a new U.S. senator and the criminal conviction of a sitting council member created openings that had a domino effect, as county officials moved in to new positions.
The parade of elections began with the conviction last year of former At-large Council Member Jamel 'Mel' Frankin, who was convicted in a campaign theft scheme, setting up an August primary and a November election. When District 5 Council Member Jolene Ivey won Franklin's seat and County Executive Angela Alsobrooks won a U.S. Senate seat in November, it set up a March primary and Tuesday's general election for those seats.
In the executive's race, voters are choosing between State's Attorney Aisha Braveboy, the Democrat, and Republican nominee Jonathan White to fill out the remaining two years of Alsobrooks' term, who stepped down in December to take her Senate seat.
The county's chief administrative officer, Tara H. Jackson, who has been acting county executive since Alsobrooks stepped down, chose not to seek the seat.
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Braveboy, who was endorsed by Gov. Wes Moore (D), easily won a March primary over a field of nine Democrats, including former County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, who had the endorsement of state treasurer and county resident Dereck Davis (D), and At-Large Council Member Calvin Hawkins, who was endorsed by Alsobrooks.
Ivey was briefly a candidate in the executive's race but withdrew before the primary — and still managed to finish fourth. By withdrawing, Ivey spared county residents the prospect of another special election for her at-large council seat. Should Braveboy win the executive's race, the county's circuit court judges will select a replacement to serve out the remaining two years of her term.
In heavily Democratic Prince George's County, Braveboy is the favorite to win. In a victory party after her March 4 primary win, Braveboy acknowledged as much when she told the crowd, 'I can't wait to serve as your next county executive.'
Voters in council District 5,which includes Bladensburg, Cheverly and Glenarden, are also choosing between former school board member Shayla Adams-Stafford, a Democrat, and Republican Fred Price Jr. to replace Ivey.
Adams-Stafford, a former school board member, won the Democratic nomination by slightly more than 2,000 votes against four other candidates. A fifth Democratic challenger, former Cheverly Mayor Kayce Munyeneh who lost reelection in last month's city election, dropped out the County Council race.
As with Braveboy, Adams-Stafford is the likely favorite in the heavily Democratic county.
The council make up could become more progressive with Adams-Stafford on the council, who also received support from Council Chair Edward Burroughs III and Vice Chair Krystal Oriadha. About three weeks after Braveboy won the special primary, Burroughs became the youngest chair in the county's history at age 32.
Honesty-Bey said counting ballots for Tuesday's special general election should be completed by June 13.
The winners in both races are scheduled to be sworn in June 19, the federal holiday of Juneteenth, also observed by the state and county, when government offices will be closed.
For more information on where to drop off mail-in ballots and nine of the vote center locations, go to here. Polls will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Polls will open Tuesday on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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