Politics and power

In recent years, politicians attending the Preakness Stakes have fretted about the future of Pimlico Race Course and the racing industry. This year, they had reason for optimism.

Election day vote counts were reduced in races for City Council District 11 and District 8, two competitive races that are currently too close to call.

Dixon said she called Scott to congratulate him on Friday morning. “His success leading our city is success for us all, so I sincerely wish him all the best in his second term,” the former mayor said.

About 25,000 outstanding votes were expected to help decide at least three closely contested City Council races that have not yet declared winners.

Preparing to speak at the funeral of Roger Fortson, who was shot and killed by police at his Florida home, the Rev. Jamal-Harrison Bryant, a former Baltimore pastor, revisits his Freddie Gray eulogy and his outrage fueled by the deaths of young Black men during interactions with police.

Nick Mosby’s last campaign looked a lot like that of his ex-wife, Marilyn Mosby. What happens next for the onetime Baltimore power couple is anyone’s guess.

I recently caught up with state Sen. Sarah Elfreth over coffee, days after she won the Democratic nomination for Congress in Maryland's 6th District. She recently adopted a puppy named Ollie and thinks often of the late House Speaker Mike Busch, who encouraged and inspired her.

“In respect to all who voted, I’ll be waiting for the final outcome of the mail-in ballots before I make any further statements on the outcome of the mayoral primary,” Dixon said in a Wednesday statement.

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, now running for the U.S. Senate, made his clearest comments yet on abortion, telling the New York Times on Thursday: “I support restoring Roe as the law of the land.”

The council’s budget leader and would-be kingmaker had a tough election night Tuesday.

The new laws will expedite resources to crime victims, help retain and recruit cops, and create a first-in-the-nation center to study gun violence as a public health issue.

Wealthy Maryland congressman has said he will back Democrat Angela Alsobrooks’ U.S. Senate bid in the fall, but has not signaled whether he’ll become a major financial supporter of her campaign.

Would public opinion be swayed if we were witnessing, say, Stormy Daniels and Hope Hicks’ testimonies and facial expressions in real time? According to two media experts: Not really.

The Stronach Group’s investment in high-wattage entertainment to attract younger fans and bigger purses to lure the best thoroughbreds hasn’t paid off, with Preakness losing millions of dollars each of the past two years.

Scott becomes the center of political gravity in Baltimore, now that he’s slated to become the first mayor to serve at least two full terms since 1999.