First Republican challenger for Frederick mayor has filed
The first Republican has entered the race for Frederick mayor.
Tom Trott co-founded mortgage company Victory Mortgage Solutions and is running on being business friendly.
'I'm going to emphasize trying to get more businesses all over Frederick,' Trott said in an interview on Tuesday.
Two-term Mayor Michael O'Connor, a Democrat, is seeking a third term. Another Democrat, former city planning commissioner Ron Beattie, is challenging O'Connor in the Democratic primary.
The filing deadline for candidates is July 1.
'I've been a lifelong Republican, but I've never really voted along party lines,' Trott said. 'I enjoyed the days when the Byrons were my congresspeople,' referring to Goodloe Byron, who held the U.S. 6th District seat in the 1970s, then Beverly Byron, his wife, who followed him in the office after he died. Both were Democrats.
Trott, 60, has lived in Frederick since high school. He graduated from Governor Thomas Johnson High School.
He said he wanted to use his experience in business and finance to help the city.
'I think having a business person back in the mayoral office will benefit the city tremendously,' he said.
Trott said there has been an issue with vacant buildings in the downtown area, and he wants to look at bringing businesses in to fill them.
'I don't think we're going in a great direction,' Trott said. 'We have a vibrant city with a lot of people traveling to it on weekends, but when you look at particularly the downtown area, we have a lot of places that have closed down.'
O'Connor in an interview on Tuesday challenged the notion that there are many vacant businesses downtown.
'I would disagree,' he said.
The most notable exception is a 'notorious landlord' the city has taken to court, O'Connor said.
The city is attempting to use an ordinance regulating abandoned or blighted properties to turn the former site of the Asiana restaurant at 123-125 N. Market St. over to a developer to be renovated and sold.
The restaurant closed in 2001, but the building's owners are appealing a District Court decision in 2024 allowing the building to be put into a receivership agreement.
The long-vacant Carmack Jay's grocery store building in downtown was also recently sold, though plans for its development have not been made public.
Being business friendly can also help with affordable housing, Trott said.
'I think what it's going to come down to is getting people together, getting them more involved and just making Frederick city more business friendly and I think that'll bring in more dollars' for new housing projects, he said.
Trott said he was not an opponent of a measure the then-Board of Aldermen passed in 2024 allowing all residents of the city to vote regardless of their citizenship status. The measure does not exclude undocumented immigrants from voting.
'The more the merrier,' Trott said. He believes the measure will not significantly increase turnout, however.
'If they wanted to get more people that are noncitizens voting, they should have done day-of-voting registration, which has been done in other jurisdictions, where somebody can come up with their utility bill and driver's license, and it shows they are a resident and vote,' Trott said.
Trott said he won't be available to talk more in-depth about his positions until early July.
The City Council is also set to increase from five members to seven after elections in November.
Following the charter changes from September of 2024, the next elected council will have five members representing five districts.
Two will remain at-large representatives of the city. All are currently at-large representatives.
In District 1, which encompasses an area in the west part of the city north of the Golden Mile area, only current City Council President Katie Nash, a Democrat, has filed to run.
District 2 is the area around the Golden Mile in the southwest portion of the city. Only immigrant advocate César Díaz, a Democrat, has filed to run in the district.
District 3 is made up mostly of the downtown area. In the district, Peter Brehm, treasurer for The Frederick Center, which serves the LGBTQ+ communities, and Wag's Restaurant co-owner Dave Schmidt — both Democrats — have filed to run.
District 4 contains the northern part of downtown and the northeastern portion of the city. Joe Adkins, a Republican and former deputy director of the Frederick Planning Department, and Democrat S. Scott Lasher have filed for the district.
District 5 includes the northwestern part of the city. Sculptor Sarah Hempel Irani, a Democrat, is the lone candidate who has filed for the district.
Incumbents Derek Shackelford and Kelly Russell, as well as Medicaid policy analyst Libby Taylor, have filed to run for the council's two at-large seats. All three are Democrats.
Though Council Member Donna Kuzemchak has said previously repeatedly that she is not intending to run for another term, on Tuesday, she said the Fiscal Year 2026 budget process and other things have made her consider possibly pursuing another term.
Council Member Ben MacShane has also said he is not running again.
The primary election is scheduled for Sept. 9 and the general election is scheduled for Nov. 4.
Staff writer Ryan Marshall contributed to this story.
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