Young supporting Mosby’s bid for Baltimore City Council president
Democrats worked together during terms at City Hall
Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young on Saturday said he is supporting state Del. Nick J. Mosby in the race to become the next City Council president.
The two men, both Democrats, are major players in the April 28 primary. Young is seeking a full, four-year term as mayor after ascending to the seat in the wake of Catherine Pugh’s resignation; Mosby is looking to return to City Hall from the General Assembly.
They worked together closely for years — on issues like pressuring the police department to implement a body-worn camera program — when Young was still council president and Mosby represented West Baltimore as a councilman.
As mayor and council president, Young said, the two “would work well.” Young said he committed to Mosby early in the election cycle that he would support his run and that he always honors his word.
Asked about Young’s show of support and about who he plans to back for mayor, Mosby issued a statement: “I am pleased to have the support of the mayor and many other elected officials and community leaders that I have worked with in the past. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mayor Jack Young, he is a friend who tirelessly serves the city.
“I have been focused on addressing the needs of my constituents in Annapolis and running my campaign to become the next City Council President.”
It’s the first competitive race for City Council president in about a decade, with incumbent City Council President Brandon Scott running against Young for mayor.
Mosby has opened up a lead in the race, according to a recent poll for The Baltimore Sun, the University of Baltimore and WYPR. It showed Mosby favored by 26% of likely Democratic voters, while Carl Stokes, another former councilman and political ally of Young, had 17% support. Stokes jumped into the race at the last minute, filing his candidacy roughly an hour before the Jan. 24 deadline.
Young, Stokes and Mosby overlapped in City Hall between 2011 and 2016.
There are also two current council members running for City Council president — Shannon Sneed and Leon Pinkett — but they trailed in the poll at 10% and 4%, respectively.
Nearly four in 10 voters were undecided, and the poll had a margin of error of 4.9 percentage points.
Young is himself facing a crowded and competitive field of Democrats seeking to be mayor. The Sun/UB/WYPR poll showed him trailing the leaders.
While out campaigning Saturday, Young said he has faith in his base of support across the city and that people would agree he’s “the right man for the job.”
Young also recently revealed that he would support Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for president.
After reading to a group of students at Leith Walk Elementary/Middle School, a little boy asked the mayor if he would be president after Donald Trump left office.
“No,” Young said. “You know who I’m voting for? Joe Biden. He used to be the vice president of the United States, and I like him.”