Del. Nick Charles welcomed four candidates who received Democratic nominations in state legislative races in Prince George’s County.
Those candidates include Bowie City Council member Adrian Boafo and Kym Taylor, who garnered the second and third spots to represent legislative District 23; Tiffany Alston in District 24; and Jamila J. Woods in District 26.
“Congratulations on your campaign advancing to the general election,” Charles, who chairs the county’s House delegation, said in a message posted Saturday, July 30 on Kym Taylor’s Twitter page.
However, while the county’s Board of Elections had counted all the ballots by Friday, July 29, there could be recounts coming in districts 23 and 24.
The Maryland General Assembly approved legislation this year for candidates who petition for a recount must be down by at least .25%. The previous figure stood at 1%.
Candidates running for statewide offices must decide by Thursday, Aug. 4 to request a recount.
The process, which could take up to a week, allows candidates to reassess ballots from mail-in and provisional ballots, or specific and all voting precincts.
LaTasha Ward, who sits in fourth place and trails Alston by 101 votes, or .19%, said she plans to ask for a recount.
Ward said she would like to assess why 162 ballots didn’t get counted in that race.
“We would love to see those,” she said. “I worked hard. People in the community know who I am. They know my work.”
Christopher Stevenson could also ask for a recount sitting in fifth place behind Alston by only 131 votes, or .25%.
Alston, elected as a delegate in 2010, became indicted for improperly using campaign and state funds and was later ousted from her seat in 2012.
But that didn’t matter in this year’s primary as she sits behind the top two vote-getters, Dels. Jazz Lewis and Andrea Fletcher Harrison, who represent municipalities and communities including Glenarden, Largo and Seat Pleasant.
“I am absolutely honored that the people of the 24th District chose me to serve them in Annapolis,” Alston said in an email Sunday, July 31. “We ran a campaign on stabilizing the economy, delivering brave justice and exposing a health care system that puts profit over people.”
She said her first priority will be to conduct a listening tour throughout the district.
In terms of a possible recount, Alston said she trusts the work of the county’s Board of Elections and should a recount happen, “I am sure [the board] will use the same integrity and accuracy in any recount.”
Further north in the Bowie area and portions of Upper Marlboro in District 23, Taylor holds the third and final spot ahead by 19 votes, or .03%, over Jocelyn Collins.
Collins said in an email Saturday she’s conferring with counsel on whether to petition for a recount but she’s “leaning [in] that direction.”
“I ran a strong, people-focused grassroots campaign that covered every part of the District and I feel this is reflective in my vote total,” she said
Del. Marvin Holmes, Jr. garnered the most votes with 10,382. However, Boafo recorded the highest number of mail-in and provisional ballots at 3,860.
A Look at the County Council Results
Meanwhile, four County Council members easily garnered the Democratic nomination in their respective races that include: Chair Calvin Hawkins II (D-At-Large); Vice Chair Syndney Harrison (D-District 9); and Mel Franklin (D-At-Large), all three of Upper Marlboro; and Edward Burroughs III (D-District 9) of Camp Springs.
Council members Tom Dernoga (D-District 1) of Laurel and Jolene Ivey (D-District 5) of Cheverly ran unopposed.
Eric Olson of College Park, who served on the council between 2006 to 2014, won the Democratic nomination to represent District 3.
Beside Ivey, the council will look different with possibly five Black women.
Del. Wanika Fisher of Hyattsville won the Democratic nomination over former state Sen. Victor Ramirez by 433 votes.
Bowie City Council member Ingrid Harrison easily garnered the Democratic nomination in District 4.
Krystal Oriadha of Seat Pleasant defeated the incumbent Rodney Streeter by 3,400 votes in District 7. She represents the only candidate to face a Republican challenger, Gary Falls, in the November general election. Falls received 149 votes in last month’s primary.
If elected, Oriadha would represent council’s first openly member from the LGBTQ community.
Wala Blegay faced a tough challenge against four other Black women to obtain the Democratic nomination to represent District 6.
Blegay, an attorney with the D.C. Nurses Association who resides in Kettering, said she and some of her supporters began to dance when the lead grew to 1,200.
She plans to host a celebration Saturday, Aug. 6 in Capitol Heights. Some attendees can offer “business sponsorship” to support the event, which ranges from silver at $250 to platinum at $2,500.
Blegay gives some of the credit for her victory to residents from Cameron Grove, a 55-and-older residential community in Upper Marlboro. They sported red and white t-shirts and handed out campaign literature at several polling locations.
“We had resounding support in that area,” she said. “The Cameron Grove advocates are one of the main reasons we won. We are going to have a big celebration with them. They deserve it.”
This article was written by The Washington Informer, read more articles like this here.
Photo: Prince George’s County election worker Mark Mosby prepares to enter ballots into the vote tabulator on the final day of canvassing provisional and mail-in ballots at Lake Arbor Elementary School in Mitchellville, Maryland, on July 29. (Robert R. Roberts/The Washington Informer)
