What’s the job: The City Council president is responsible for administration of the City Council. The president assigns City Councilmembers to committees, sets the agenda for City Council meetings and can introduce and vote on legislation. The City Council president is one of five members of the Board of Estimates, which approves city spending and contracts, and is next in succession if the mayor were to leave office. The City Council president is elected citywide to a four-year term.

Democrats

(Kirk McKoy/The Baltimore Banner)

Name: Zeke Cohen

Age: 38

Personal: Lives in Southeast Baltimore with his wife, Reena, and their two children

Education: Holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Goucher College in 2008 and a master’s degree in public policy in 2012 from Johns Hopkins University

Experience: Cohen has represented the 1st District on the City Council since he was elected in 2016. Before running for public office, Cohen worked as a middle school teacher in West Baltimore through the organization Teach for America and later founded a nonprofit to teach kids about community organizing and civic leadership.

Endorsements: State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, Comptroller Bill Henry, The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers (AFSCME) Maryland Council 3, Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO, Baltimore-D.C. Metro Building Trades Council, Baltimore Teachers Union, Bikemore

Notable donors: Ekiben co-owner Ephrem Abebe; T. Rowe Price Group former vice chairman Edward Bernard and wife Ellen Bernard; real estate developer Brandon Chasen of Chasen Companies; former CEO of OM Asset Management Peter Bain and his wife Millicent Bain; Baltimore Fire Officers Local No. 964; Canton Port Workers LLC; CSX Transportation; and CONSOL Energy.

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Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby poses for a portrait in his City Hall office on Wednesday, March 15.

Name: Nick Mosby

Age: 45

Personal: Mosby lives in Reservoir Hill. He has two daughters with his ex-wife, former State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

Education: Mosby holds a bachelor’s degree in electronics and electronics engineering from Tuskegee University, as well as a master’s degree in telecommunications management from the Stevens Institute of Technology.

Experience: Before running for elected office, Mosby worked as a senior project manager at Baltimore Gas and Electric and before that as a network engineer for Verizon in Baltimore. He was first elected to City Council, representing West Baltimore’s District 7, in 2011. In 2017, Mosby joined the Maryland House of Delegates, representing West Baltimore in Annapolis after he was appointed to the seat and later held onto the seat in the 2018 elections. Mosby ran successfully for City Council president in 2020, besting then-Councilwoman Shannon Sneed.

Endorsements: Maryland state Sen. Antonio Hayes, and Delegates Stephanie M. Smith, Malcolm P. Ruff, Regina T. Boyce and Jheanelle Wilkins; former Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young, Council members Robert Stokes, Sharon Green Middleton, Antonio Glover

Notable donors: Alex Smith of Atlas Restaurant Group and his wife Christina Ghani; Mark Sapperstein of 28 Walker Development; Josh Fannon, president of the union Baltimore Fire Officers IAFF Local 964; P. David Bramble, the lead developer behind the proposed revamp of Harborplace; MCB Real Estate gave $6,000; Baltimore City Fire Fighters Local No. 7 union; Baltimore Gas and Electric PAC; CVP Cross Keys Investors; Comm-Foods Inc.; and One Call Concepts.

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Tom Perez speaks alongside Shannon Sneed during a primary election night event at Tommy Joe's on July 19, 2022 in Bethesda, Maryland. Perez, the former U.S. Labor Secretary under President Barack Obama and a former Democratic National Committee chairman, is running for governor.
Tom Perez speaks alongside Shannon Sneed during a primary election night event at Tommy Joe's on July 19, 2022 in Bethesda, Maryland. Perez, the former U.S. Labor Secretary under President Barack Obama and a former Democratic National Committee chairman, is running for governor. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Name: Shannon Sneed

Age: 43

Personal: Sneed and her husband, Ramond, live in Reservoir Hill with their 7-year-old daughter.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore in 2002 and a master’s degree in communications from Morgan State University.

Experience: Worked in TV news and spent more than a decade at the local WJZ-TV; worked for the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development; elected 13th District council member in 2016; unsuccessfully ran for City Council president in 2020; worked in U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen’s office; worked for the AFL-CIO labor union; ran alongside Tom Perez as his pick for lieutenant governor in the 2022 gubernatorial race.

Endorsements: Maryland state Senators Nate McFadden, Joan Carter Conway, and Del. Jackie Addison; Former Baltimore Comptroller Joan Pratt, Baltimore City School Board member Ashley Esposito, former NARAL Pro-Choice Maryland Director Diana Phillip, Amalgamated Transit Workers.

Notable donors: Sneed is fundraising through Baltimore’s new public financing fund, which caps donations at $150 per donor and provides candidates with matching funds. Notable contributors include Biden adviser and former Maryland gubernatorial candidate Tom Perez; Women’s Law Center Executive Director and former first lady of Maryland Katie Curran O’Malley, former Baltimore Mayor Jack Young, Council members Kristerfer Burnett, Phylicia Porter, Antonio Glover, 11th District candidate Zac Blanchard Maryland state Sen. Cory McCray, Board of Schools Commissioners members Robert Salley and Mujahid Muhammad.

Read The Baltimore Banner profile of Shannon Sneed.

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