Charles County voters choose new leaders
Collins returns with new title: commissioners’ president
Attorney Reuben Collins II, who previously served two terms as a commissioner, will be returning to the board as commissioners’ president after he won over two-thirds of the vote for the office on Tuesday.
His nearest challenger, Republican Henry Thompson, polled at 29 percent. Green Party candidate Chris Dudley came in third with 3.4 percent.
Collins attributed his victory in part to strong voter turnout despite heavy rains throughout the day.
“I visited multiple poll sites and what I saw consistently was a steady flow of voters, which was very impressive,” Collins said. “Even during those hours when you would traditionally see a lower flow of voters, and during the early morning period ... when it was a downpour, people were still going to the polls. It was encouraging in a lot of ways.”
Collins believed the heavy turnout was due in part to the tone of politics at the national level.
“Something struck a nerve [with voters],” he said. “What I saw was ... that what’s going on with national politics made people more inclined to participate and vote.”
Collins said that many of the people he saw while visiting polling stations on Tuesday were people he knew personally.
“Those bonds were not something that were immediately created,” Collins said. “I think a lot of people have been supportive of me because of my work in the community that preceded even my work as a county commissioner.”
The victors in the June primary race for the board of county commissioners all won on Tuesday by healthy majorities. As with the previous board, the incoming board will consist entirely of Democrats.
Gilbert “B.J.” Bowling, a commander in the Prince George’s County Police Department, prevailed in a three-way race against Republican challenger Joe Crawford and Democratic write-in candidate Donta Varney, winning 73.3 percent of the vote.
Thomasina Coates, a federal information technology contractor, was elected District 2 commissioner with just under 82 percent of the vote, while her Green Party opponent Stanley R. Hayes won 16.8 percent.
The two incumbents who won in the primary, District 3 Commissioner Amanda Stewart (D) and District 4 Commissioner Bobby Rucci (D), also won re-election on Tuesday. Stewart, a teacher in the Prince George’s County school system, ran unopposed, and Rucci, a restaurant owner, defeated Republican nominee James Ashburn 73.3 percent to 26.5 percent.
Collins told the Maryland Independent that he was very excited by the makeup of the incoming board and that he looked forward to working with them.
“I think what the citizens will see is a board that will work well together,” Collins said. “I think they will see a level of transparency that will be comforting. People will see decisions [being] made in a very public manner.”
“This is a board in which the voices of all five commissioners will be heard,” he added.
Collins said he expected that economic expansion would be a major focus of the new board, with an emphasis on diversifying the tax revenue base away from individual property taxes.
“If we really are serious in this notion that we don’t want to have our citizens bear the brunt by paying higher property taxes, we have to show a willingness to really focus on building our economy,” he said. “People will see that we are committed to that.”
“I think people will see a working board, a very active board that is primed to take on the challenges,” he said.
Bowling agreed with Collins’ assessment of the board, noting that the five members each represented a distinct segment of the county’s demographics, making it very well rounded in terms of representation.
“I feel like this new board is made up of a good mix of people, not only viewpoint-wise but also with regard to geography and ethnicity and gender,” Bowling said. “I feel good about going into this office and working with people who will be working together to make Charles County a better place.”
Bowling said he was “very pleased and humbled” by the support shown by Charles County voters, who he said appeared to respond to the positive and inclusive tone of his campaign during an election tinged with rancor both locally and nationally.
“For me, it showed that being fair and being the type of leader who wants to bring people together made a difference,” Bowling said. “It gave me back my faith in our community.”
Charles County Sheriff Troy Berry (D) and State’s Attorney Tony Covington (D) were unopposed and received 51,770 and 49,940 votes, respectively, with 45 of 48 precincts reported. Others unopposed included Register of Wills Loraine Hennessy (D), Clerk of the Circuit Court Sharon “Sherri” Hancock (D) and Circuit Court Judges William R. Greer Jr. and Donine Marie Carrington.