Democrat Michael O’Connor has served as Frederick City’s mayor for eight years, and is well on his way to winning a third term with a 6,000 vote lead.
As of Monday afternoon, O’Connor had 10,453 votes out of more than 14,000 cast, while his opponent, Republican Tom Trott had 3,615.
Having first served as mayor in 2017, O’Connor has run on a platform of continuing the work he started across his years as city mayor. His focus is on housing, transportation and city services. He also wants to continue growing the city’s relationship with the county.
As a businessman who works with housing, Trott campaigned for business growth and a return to what he described as a more lively point in Frederick’s history.
O’Connor defeated Ron Beattie, who formerly served on the city’s planning commission and stepped down in order to run for mayor, in the Democratic primary. Trott ran unopposed on the GOP side. Beattie ran on a platform of change, saying his position in the planning commission allowed him to see where things were going to break. O’Connor won by a margin of less than 900 votes out of nearly 6,000 votes cast.
Frederick City’s general election votes will be formally certified and announced on Wednesday.
Affordable Housing
O’Connor is excited to work with the city’s new council and says he already shares many priorities with those he has spoken to.
Across both the primary and general election, affordability and the cost of living within the city have been a major point of discussion for candidates and residents.
The United Way of Frederick County released its 2025 ALICE report earlier this year, which stands for access limited, income constrained but employed. These are households that live above the national poverty line, but still can’t afford to make ends meet.
In Frederick County, 33% of households live below the ALICE threshold. The African American and Hispanic communities are disproportionately represented, as well as single mothers. Within the city, the overall number goes up to 45% of households.
According to Ken Oldham, CEO of United Way of Frederick County, cost of housing and child care, as well as transportation, make up some of the largest causes that push families below the ALICE threshold.
O’Connor said Frederick is a high functioning community with high quality services, but points out the city is feeling the impact many other communities are experiencing. He says the new council is ready to address the needs of their constituents. “We have to have conversations about what are the things we can control in our own community that we can make a difference for our residents,” O’Connor explained.
Housing Study
The county and city are working together on a housing study to uncover the local data behind the issue of affordable housing.
Developers within the city can pay in lieu of building moderately priced dwelling units, also known as MPDUs. The fee is meant to act as a de-insentivizer, to encourage companies to build affordable housing themselves, but O’Connor says most developers choose to pay the fee.
Many residents, including former planning commissioner Ron Beatie, have said they want to see the fee increased or removed altogether. Beatie said he would like to see 100% affordable housing projects fast tracked as an incentive.
O’Connor says the money generated by that fee is used by the city on its own affordable housing projects. He argues the city has been able to construct almost as much affordable housing as if the city had required the developers to do so. “That’s because we’ve got a lot of low income tax credit projects that have produced 100% of those units in a capped price point,” O’Connor said.
Nothing is off the table, O’Connor explained, as — through the fee — the city has millions of dollars to deploy once the housing study highlights where the gaps are. “If we can find a, ‘both, and,’ approach that allows us to have necessary housing built, have some affordable housing built, and then to have dollars available that we can really target to where the gap is, that may be the best option, but it’s going to be an important conversation,” O’Connor explained.
