Name one candidate in the 2024 presidential race. Easy, right? Now, try this: name one candidate in the 2024 Baltimore mayoral election.

Though the presidential race receives significantly more media attention, numerous local elections occur simultaneously, and the city positions we elect are also of great importance.

“A mistake people often make with politics is being distracted by all the news and controversy and fights at the national level, but our day to day lives are governed by the local level,” explained Valerie Johnson, a government and history teacher at the Baltimore School for the Arts.

Many of BSA’s juniors and seniors are eligible to vote in the May 14 primary and being politically active is more important now than ever. Voters will be posed with choosing the Mayor of Baltimore, a Senator, multiple House members, as well as a ballot question aiming to add reproductive rights to the State Constitution.

Our city’s executive is particularly essential to its operation. The Mayor of Baltimore holds pronounced power over budgeting, being one of the most powerful Mayor’s offices in America.

The executive’s extreme power has been closely scrutinized, from their ability to call citywide curfews and command deals on infrastructure to their near-total control over city spending and distribution of state and federal funds.

Just recently, the Mayor’s veto power was challenged after the incumbent, Mayor Brandon Scott, vetoed new district maps created by city councilmembers, causing his own maps to become law. As of this article’s publication, Baltimore voters will likely be posed with a ballot question to amend the City Charter and establish a citizen-led redistricting commission.

In recent years, we’ve seen blatant criminals in the seat, such as Catherine Pugh, who resigned in 2019 after committing tax evasion and fraud, or Sheila Dixon, who was convicted of embezzlement in 2009 and is now running for re-election. Yet, many revere the national elections and only bother with the presidential candidates. But can they be blamed?

One cause for this disconnect is the inaccessibility of local news: as senior stage design student Rebecca Sherber explained, “I haven’t seen too much about the mayoral elections. My family receives The New York Times every day but we don’t have a Baltimore Sun subscription, so I’m really not consuming much local media.”

And that’s not abnormal: digital subscriptions to the Sun cost $239 annually, even though the paper is declining in quality. News channels like WBAL and WJZ are completely free, and nonprofits like the Baltimore Beat are best for topical opinion pieces.

But with news channels being unattractive to the social media generation, how can we spread the word? Social media has a unique place, being both a major influence on students and an excellent platform for spreading information. However, simply talking to friends and family might be most effective: student government co-president Chloe McNeill is familiar with major candidates like incumbent Brandon Scott, former mayor Sheila Dixon, and former prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah (who has since dropped out of the race), and she commented that “the mayoral candidates have been the main topic in any election conversations I’ve heard.”

But, even if you are familiar, why should you vote in the primary election? If the general election chooses the mayor, why bother with the primary?

“Baltimore is a very blue city, and it would be virtually impossible for a Republican candidate to win the mayor’s race,” Johnson explained. Consequently, the results of the Democratic primary will decide Baltimore’s mayor, making the primary quintessential to our city’s government.

There’s good news too: Maryland law dictates that 17-year-olds can vote in the primary elections if they will be 18 by the general election on November 5, so many of BSA’s juniors are eligible to vote as well.

“The system works when we vote,” said Thomas Askey, BSA’s assistant principal for academics and former government teacher across the city. “If we do not vote, the system cannot function properly. It requires an input and that input is a vote.”

The primary election, which will essentially select the next Mayor, takes place May 14. The President, one Senate seat, and all eight House seats will be chosen in the general elections on November 5, 2024. You can register to vote here and find more about elections here.

To contact this writer, email Muse Newspaper at musebsa@bsfa.org.

Featured image captured by Chiara Monterroso for the BSA Muse.