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Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks remained on the verge of easily winning a second four-year term in Tuesday’s primary election and continuing to lead Maryland’s second-largest jurisdiction.
As of 7:27 a.m. Wednesday, July 20 and according to unofficial results, the 51-year-old county native garnered about 68,000 votes against four other Democratic challengers.
“Voters deserve the respect of having me come out and ask for their continued support and that’s what I’ve done,” Alsobrooks said Tuesday morning at a polling site at Potomac Landing Elementary School in Fort Washington. “I haven’t taken a moment of this for granted. I have campaigned as hard as anyone.”
Her efforts showed as a slew of campaign signs dominated many parts of the county – some on the lawns of homeowners, others displayed in the windows of businesses. She also secured a $1 million campaign war chest and garnered various endorsements from top statewide and local officials.
A recent commercial aired on local television using her daughter’s voice to summarize Alsobrooks’ work to help build nine new schools, distribute four million meals through the county’s “Stand Up & Deliver” program and the opening of a new cancer center in 2024 in Largo on the campus of the University of Maryland Capital Region Medical Center.
With no Republican challengers on the ballot, it’s more than likely Alsobrooks will win the November general election and serve a second, four-year term.
David Sierra, who works in information technology on Capitol Hill, declined to say who he voted for but said he’s seen Alsobrooks in the community ever since he moved to the county in 2006.
“She’s solid. She’s been around. She has been a constant presence. She’s a good candidate,” Sierra said after he voted at Potomac Landing Elementary.
According to results with 315 of the 327 precincts reporting, the results of the other four candidates included: Tonya Sweat, 2,456 votes; Leigh Bodden, 1,887; Sherman Hardy, 1,644; and Billy Bridges, 1,129 votes.
Tamara McKinney of Lanham and Kelly Canavan of Accokeek each chose Sweat, an attorney who manages her own consulting firm.
Both women said they noticed Sweat’s advocacy before she announced her intentions last year to run for county executive. Sweat served as PTA president at Oxon Hill High School and vice president for advocacy on the Maryland PTA.
McKinney recalled when Sweat spoke at a forum at Charles Herbert Flowers High School in Springdale and spoke “honestly” about how the county’s public schools must improve in areas like hiring and obtaining qualified principals.
“She spoke about the disservice with our children in the school system and how it needs to do better,” said McKinney as she took her mail-in ballot to a drop box. “I saw her working in the streets for the community. It’s just time for some new thoughts and change.”
County Council
Canavan said changes are also needed on the County Council. She didn’t cast a vote for incumbents Mel Franklin (D-At-Large), council chair Calvin Hawkins II (D-At-Large) or vice chair Sydney Harrison (D-District 9).
One main reason stems from all three men who cast votes in November to revamp a redistricting plan and rejected a proposal from a three-member redistricting commission that the council created. The state court of appeals ruled in March against the council and for the county to use the commission’s plan.
Canavan, who serves as president of the AMP Creeks Council and resides in the District 9 area in southern Prince George’s, said Lisa Burnam “was an easy choice over Sydney Harrison because he has done nothing.”
She voted for Stanford Fraser, who works as a public defender in the county, to represent one of the two at-large seats on the 11-member council.
Unofficial results show Hawkins and Franklin in first place with 46,717 and 38,991 votes, respectively.
The remaining candidates concluded the race in the following order: Rudy D. Anthony, 13,464 votes; Fraser, 11,645; Jonathan White, 8,642; Sam Elira, Sr., 4,209; and Leo Bachi Eyombo, 3,800 votes.
As for District 9, Harrison remains poised to retain his seat with 8,819 votes with 39 out of 41 precincts reporting.
The other three candidates ended the evening in the following order: Burnam, 2,892 votes; Ernest Canlas, 927; and Dorian Sibedwo, 255 votes.
With the exception of council members Tom Dernoga (District 1) of Laurel and Jolene Ivey (D-District 5) of Cheverly who ran unopposed, here’s a look at unofficial results for the remaining council races.
- District 2 – Del. Wanika Fisher with 2,102 votes; former state Sen. Victor Ramirez with 1,983 and Raymond Nevo with 175. Totals are with all 24 Election Day precincts reporting.
- District 3 – Former County Council member Eric Olson leads the way with 2,563 votes; Eve Shuman with 1,737; and Sia Finoh with 712. Totals are with all 34 Election Day precincts reporting.
- District 4 – Ingrid Harrison in first place with 5,349 votes; Patrice Murray with 2,280; Michael Estève with 2,236; and Trance A. Washington with 368. Totals are with all 49 Election Day precincts reporting.
- District 6 – Wala Blegay stands in first place with 4,107 votes; Denise Smith with 3,687; Barbara Holt Streeter with 2,419; Nakia Wright with 1,948; and Belinda Queen with 981. Totals are with 38 out of 39 Election Day precincts reporting.
- District 7 – Political novice and local activist Krystal Oriadha currently stands in first place with 3,638 votes. Incumbent Rodney Streeter trails with 1,757 votes and Anita G. Naves with 939. The winner who garners the Democratic nomination will face Gary Falls, a Republican, in the November general election. Totals are with 39 out of 41 Election Day precincts reporting.
- District 8 – Incumbent Edward Burroughs III will retain the seat he won in February’s special election with 6,122 votes. Former state delegate and council member Tony Knotts picked up 905 votes. Dania Lofton received 610 votes, Jerry Mathis with 394 and Vernon Wade with 419. Totals are with 32 out of 33 Election Day precincts reporting.
Because mail-in ballots aren’t scheduled to be counted until Thursday, July 21, the state set a deadline to certify results by July 29.
Prince George’s led the state with the highest early voter turnout with slightly more than 31,000 but that accounts for only 6% of the county’s eligible voters. In comparison to the 2018 gubernatorial election, about 40,800, or 7%, voted early.
County voters also elected a new sheriff due to the retirement of Melvin C. High. According to unofficial results, Lt. Col. John D.B. Carr leads with 33,957 votes; Loralyn Mayo, president of the American National Protective Services in Capitol Heights with 16,643; Slyvester Jones, a former assistant director with the U.S. Marshal’s Service with 10,247; Edmonston Police Chief Elliott W. Gibson with 5,122; and Marine Corps veteran Dave Grogan with 4,777.