Tomorrow, as early voting begins in Maryland, state residents will begin casting their ballots for the national and local primaries. There are 13 candidates running for the Democratic nomination for Mayor of Baltimore.
According to the most recent poll, released by The Baltimore Sun and the University of Baltimore, State Senator Catherine Pugh leads with 31 percent of likely voter support, followed by former mayor Shelia Dixon with 25 percent. Lawyer Elizabeth Embry is in third place with 9 percent support, up from 5 percent last month. Businessman David Warnock is in fourth place with 7 percent, and Councilman Carl Stokes and Councilman Nick Mosby are tied at fifth place in the poll, with 5 percent support.
Last week, Maryland Morning hosted a debate between Shelia Dixon, David Warnock and Nick Mosby. At the time, according to a March 10th poll, Warnock was in third place and Mosby was in fourth. Senator Pugh had been invited to join that debate but she declined, citing obligations in the Senate.
On Wednesday morning, after initially declining WYPR's invitation to participate in a second mayoral debate with candidates Elizabeth Embry and Carl Stokes, Senator Pugh arrived unexpectedly at the Maryland Morning studio a few minutes after the live program had begun. She was invited to join the debate in progress, and spent the rest of the hour with candidates Embry and Stokes discussing the issues in the mayoral race with host Tom Hall.
