Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Celebrates Primary Victory

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake won a decisive victory in the Democratic primary election Tuesday night, handily defeating several challengers whose campaigns never gained much traction or financial support against the incumbent.

On Tuesday night inside the Soundstage near Power Plant Live, Rawlings-Blake, 41, was joined on stage by a star roster of the state's Democratic establishment: Gov. Martin O'Malley, Sen. Ben Cardin, Congressman Elijah Cummings, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, City Council members and other state and federal officials.

But it was the one absent Democrat whose presence Rawlings-Blake said she felt most—that of her late father, state Del. Howard "Pete" Rawlings. It was the most emotional part of Rawlings-Blake's speech, and a moment that clearly touched many, including O'Malley.

The governor, standing behind Rawlings-Blake on stage, lowered his head and then raised it, eyes closed, during the mayor's remembrance. Rawlings-Blake's father—an influential force in state and city politics—was instrumental in helping O'Malley win his first bid for mayor in 1999.

O'Malley has been one of Rawlings-Blake's biggest supporters.

Rawlings-Blake became mayor in February 2010 after former Mayor Sheila Dixon was forced to resign the post as part of a plea deal during her criminal trial. Prior to that, in January 2007, Rawlings-Blake had become City Council president after Dixon took over the mayor's post vacated when O'Malley became governor. 

Rawlings-Blake won a tough campaign later in 2007 to become council president.

In Tuesday's Democratic primary—which in a predominantly Democratic city has traditionally picked the winner in the general election—Rawlings-Blake faced several credible challengers: state Sen. Catherine Pugh, former city housing official Otis Rolley, real estate expert and former councilman Jody Landers and Circuit Court Clerk Frank Conaway.

Rawlings-Blake's nearly 37,000 ballots gave her 52 percent of the vote, according to election results.

City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young won with 75 percent of the vote, but faced only nominal competition for a post he was appointed to when Rawlings-Blake became mayor. The lack of a credible challenger—no elected official ran against him—and his overwhelming victory gave Young his first citywide victory.