DIXON IN LEAD FOR MAYOR: It appears that Baltimore city voters have taken Sheila Dixon up on her deal: If they could agree to forgive her for a public corruption scandal that forced her from City Hall a decade ago, Dixon would make good on her reputation for running a competent government: Clean the streets and bring down crime as she had before, while never again running afoul of the law, Luke Broadwater, Wilborn P. Nobles III and Childs Walker report for the Sun.
- By 11:20 p.m. Tuesday, Dixon had 30% of the votes, slightly ahead of City Council President Brandon Scott (D). Mary Miller, a former Obama administration official, and Thiru Vignarajah, a former prosecutor, trailed them but were ahead of the rest of the crowded field, Paul Schwartzman, Jenna Portnoy and Lauren Lumpkin of the Post report.
- While polls were scheduled to close at 8 p.m. Tuesday, dozens were still waiting in line to cast their ballots two hours later, slowed by the limited number of people allowed in at one time because of social distancing requirements, Regina Garcia and Brian Witte of the AP report.
SOME SITTING JUDGES WIN, SOME STILL FACE CHALLENGERS: A few sitting circuit court judges in Carroll, Charles and Prince George’s counties face general election contests, while current judges in Anne Arundel, Howard and Montgomery counties survived challenges, according to preliminary tallies. Len Lazarick writes in MarylandReporter.com.
BLACK-OWNED BUSINESSES STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE: Immediate access to capital is critical if Maryland’s black-owned businesses are to survive in the current economic environment, according to the state’s African-American business leaders, Bryan Renbaum reports for MarylandReporter.
848 NEW COVID CASES; 43 MORE DEATHS: Maryland health officials confirmed 848 new cases of the coronavirus and 43 more deaths due to the disease Tuesday as they opened a call center with hundreds of workers to contact those who have tested positive and those they may have infected, Phil Davis of the Sun reports.
- Nine of those deaths occurred in Carroll County, writes Brian Compere for the Carroll County Times.
FIELD HOSPITAL BARELY USED: The emergency field hospital erected inside the Baltimore Convention Center is equipped to treat 250 coronavirus patients recovering at a time. Five weeks after its opening, it has treated fewer than 100 patients in total, Morgan Eichensehr of the Baltimore Business Journal reports.
OPINION: McMILLAN ON COVID-19: In MarylandReporter.com commentary, former Del. Herb McMillan contrasts Maryland’s response to the virus with Sweden’s. “The governor’s response to a disease that killed one person under age 20 was to order schools closed. Healthy people under 60, with little risk of dying from this disease, were ordered to remain home. Nothing was done to protect the elderly in assisted living facilities, the most at-risk group, from this disease. They account for half the deaths.”
THOUSANDS MARCH IN HOWARD: Len Lazarick of MarylandReporter writes that several thousand people marched from the Columbia mall to Lake Kittamaqundi Tuesday afternoon to protest the police killing of George Floyd and others. The huge crowd filled the lakefront from Clyde’s to the fountain, an outpouring seldom seen at the town’s traditional gathering place for celebrations and memorials.
- Ana Faguy of the Howard County Times reports that the large group of mostly young people marched in a peaceful protest, organized by HoCo For Justice, over the death of Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police last week.
PROTEST IN FREDERICK: Chants of “I can’t breathe!” rang from all sides of the Square Corner in Downtown Frederick Tuesday evening, as people gathered to protest the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, writes Erika Riley for the Frederick News Post.
HOGAN SENDS GUARD TO D.C.; ACLU SENDS CRITICISM TO HOGAN: About 120 members of the Maryland National Guard will join the response to Washington, said Lt. Jennifer Alston, a public affairs officer for the Guard. The ACLU of Maryland condemned Gov. Larry Hogan for “emboldening” President Trump’s response to the protests, Pamela Wood reports in the Sun.
- Hogan, who has publicly criticized Trump’s rhetoric and response to protests over George Floyd’s death, appeared to embrace the president’s get-tough message this week in a private call between Trump and the nation’s governors. “I think bringing up enough manpower, not letting anybody be overpowered the way they have been the past few days is exactly the right thing,” Hogan told the president, according to a recording of the conversation, Ovetta Wiggins and Erin Cox report for the Post.
BIDEN WINS PREZ PRIMARY: Joe Biden won presidential primaries in Maryland and a half-dozen other states Tuesday, hoping to gather momentum heading into the Democratic National Convention in August.
VOTERS LIKE IN-PERSON VOTING: Baltimore Sun staff reports that although the votes are still being counted, we already know at least this much about Maryland’s primary election: many voters wanted to vote in person; Jack Young did not win election to the office he holds; and congressional incumbents win easy victories.
- Pat Stoetzer of the Carroll County Times writes that Carroll residents also wanted to vote in person – or at least drop off their mail-in ballots themselves.
- Even after the last voters finally cast their ballots on Tuesday evening and results are posted, mail-in ballots will continue to trickle in, and it could be several days before certain elections are called. Officials previously said precinct-level results won’t be available, given the nature of the elections, Bennett Leckrone writes for Maryland Matters.
IMPALLARIA LAWSUITS DISMISSED: A Harford County Circuit Court judge has dismissed two defamation lawsuits filed by Del. Rick Impallaria, who filed suits against two fellow Republicans after both filed complaints with the Joint Committee on Legislative Ethics. The judge dismissed the defamation lawsuits Monday and ordered Impallaria to pay $500, Bryan Sears of the Daily Record reports.
MARYLAND No. 10 IN CENSUS SELF-REPORTING: The U.S. Census Bureau’s rankings show Maryland is narrowly behind Indiana for the 10th spot in the Top 10 self-reporting state numbers. The nation hit a milestone on Sunday, May 31, with 60.5% of the self-response rate achieved, Heather Legg reports in Conduit Street.
BROADWATER TO N.Y. TIMES: MarylandReporters.com congratulates the Sun’s Luke Broadwater who is being hired by the New York Times to cover Congress. Luke was the lead reporter on the Catherine Pugh scandal, coverage that won a Pulitzer Prize last month. Several of our editors worked with him at the Baltimore Examiner and Patuxent Publishing.
