BALTIMORE (WMAR) — City Council President Brandon Scott is poised to be the next mayor of Baltimore after winning the democratic nomination during last weeks' primary election.
He addressed supporters outside his grandmothers home Wednesday.
"Don’t let anyone tell you that your zip code, that you're neighborhood, that your city is gonna determine how high you can go," said Scott.
He has pledged to tackle longstanding challenges in the city such as gun violence, substance abuse, and a lack of trust in government.
"We needed to build a city government that people can believe in, that Baltimoreans will know each and every day was working on their behalf," said Scott.
He hopes to be an inspiration for youth growing up in the city, just like him.
"Our campaign was about proving to the world that a young black man who grew up in the forgotten Baltimore here in Park Heights could survive everything that you have to live through in Baltimore: the gun violence, underfunded schools, living in neighborhoods with vacant homes, living in areas where you know that you are not going to be recognized even as human by your own city government; that somebody could survive all of that to be the leader of this city," said Scott.
Scott went up against more than 20 democrats, including incumbent Mayor Jack Young during the Presidential Primary election. He beat his closest opponent former Mayor Sheila Dixon by almost 2,500 votes.
"Thank you for running a clean race about the future of Baltimore City," said Scott.
The victory puts him in a strong position to be the next mayor. Democrats outnumber Republicans 10-1 in Baltimore.
His plans aren’t waiting until the November election. He’s asked Mayor Young to work with him to appoint a joint task force to study how to decrease the police department's budget," said Scott.
"The reality is that we know that we have to do it because we have to fund Kirwan. Which is the most important policy facing the state of Maryland and Baltimore," said Scott.
In a statement, Dixon said, "Thank you for your votes, your prayers and your words of encouragement over the last few days. I’m also grateful to the staff of the Board of Elections who have been sorting and counting ballots since Election Day. Their work is very important and we should let them finish their job of counting every vote in this election. Thank you again, Baltimore."
For now, Scott will continue to serve as the city council president, focusing on the budget. He will face republican candidate Shannon Wright in November.
