Primary voting tells a tale of two cities

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299 days ago: GOP, Green candidates: Don’t forget us in city election

352 days ago: Pundits: Apathy stalls voter turnout

» 353 days ago: Primary voting tells a tale of two cities «

354 days ago: City gains few new voters

354 days ago: Region waits for city race results and area impact

355 days ago: In the home stretch, candidates make their last bids for votes

358 days ago: Baltimore City turnout may be the primary factor

358 days ago: Voters say mayor’s race ignores critical issues

365 days ago: Candidate links indictment with Dixon ‘culture’ of corruption

366 days ago: Mayoral candidates square off again

(Chris Ammann/Examiner)
Mayor Sheila Dixon, right, speaks with friend and constituent Virginia Price after Dixon placed her vote at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in Baltimore on Tuesday.

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - In the end, how votes were cast in the city’s mayoral primary came down to a tale of two cities.

For those who believed Baltimore was moving in the right direction, Mayor Sheila Dixon invariably got their vote. But voters worried about crime, gangs and policing tended to favor Keiffer Mitchell Jr.

Either way, the extremely low turnout — about 80,000 residents cast ballots on Tuesday — meant just a handful of the city’s electorate chose Baltimore’s next mayor. (Click here for election results by precinct.)

“I think she has a done a good job so far,” said Dixon voter Susie Noonon, a Fells Point resident and retired teacher. “Education is the key, and she has the background for it.”

But another Fells Point resident, Mark Lardner, said he felt Mitchell would clean up City Hall.

“Property taxes are killing us,” he said. “He proposed lowering them as city councilman, so I support him now.”

At polling places around the city, officials and campaign workers were left standing idly by as voters trickled in one at a time.

“We usually have 20 or 30 people waiting outside when we open,” said Tim Dickey, an election judge in East Baltimore.

“Education is key,” said LaShawn Bradley, who lives near Little Italy and said she was voting for all incumbents in a district that included City Councilman Bernard “Jack” Young.

“I’m used to them being in charge,” she said.

Josephine Mahoney, voting near Johns Hopkins University, felt Dixon had more experience. “She knows what she is doing; so far she hasn’t done a bad job,” she said.

Despite low turnout, the families of candidates were out. Nanette Mitchell, mother of Keiffer Mitchell Jr., worked the polls in Mount Vernon.

“It’s a proud moment for me. I’ve never been able to vote for my son before,” she said.

“But I’ve never seen turnout this low,” she said.

Ex-U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes — father of Michael Sarbanes, a candidate for City Council president — also was seen at the polls near Johns Hopkins.

Asked who he preferred in the three-way race against City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and City Councilman Kenneth Harris Sr., the elder Sarbanes was blunt.

“It shouldn’t be hard to figure out,” he said.

sjanis@baltimoreexaminer.com

SEE THE LATEST ON THIS STORY

EMAIL STORY

PRINT STORY

299 days ago: GOP, Green candidates: Don’t forget us in city election

352 days ago: Pundits: Apathy stalls voter turnout

» 353 days ago: Primary voting tells a tale of two cities «

354 days ago: City gains few new voters

354 days ago: Region waits for city race results and area impact

355 days ago: In the home stretch, candidates make their last bids for votes

358 days ago: Baltimore City turnout may be the primary factor

358 days ago: Voters say mayor’s race ignores critical issues

365 days ago: Candidate links indictment with Dixon ‘culture’ of corruption

366 days ago: Mayoral candidates square off again