Thousands of Annapolis voters went to the ballot box Tuesday to elect their next mayor and City Council, starting the multiday wait for election results.
The election will determine the next mayor of Annapolis as two-term Mayor Gavin Buckley, a Democrat, leaves office and was unable to run again due to term limits. Democrat Jared Littmann, a former alderman and current hardware store owner, and Republican Robert O’Shea, who does consulting for the defense and medical industries, are running against each other to be the next mayor.
About 2,725 people had voted in person in Annapolis as of noon Tuesday, with eight hours left to vote, and election staff had received more than 2,600 mail-in ballots by Monday.
Polling places around the city had lines of about 20 people at a time at some points in the day, including in Wards 2, 3 and 5.
The first round of unofficial election results, which will include only in-person Election Day votes, was set to be released Tuesday night shortly after polls close. To view results, visit capitalgazette.com.
The hundreds of mail-in ballots and ballots placed in drop boxes could dramatically shift the election following the in-person vote count. As of Monday, the city had sent out 3,420 mail-in ballots, 2,618 of which had been received.
On Thursday, election staff will count ballots placed in drop boxes and mail-in ballots that have been received up to that point. The final election results will be available Nov. 12, when the election will be certified and any remaining mail-in ballots will be counted. Mail-in ballots must be received by election staff by 10 a.m. Nov. 12 and be postmarked by Election Day to count.
While election results were not available in time for publication of this story, there are voter participation counts available by the party voters are registered to. Any voter could have voted for any candidate on their ballot, regardless of their voter registration.
As of noon Tuesday, 57% of in-person voters citywide were registered Democrats. About 67% of mail-in ballots received by Monday were from Democrats.
Throughout the city, candidates made their last appeal to voters, standing outside polling places with signs, treats and policy proposals.
O’Shea’s mayoral campaign had an electronic billboard on a van near the City Hall polling place and large signs plastered across the city promoting his plans to rein in property taxes.
Littmann’s campaign got a boost from a City Hall stop-in from Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, who touted the city’s Democratic candidates after he voted in his local polling booth.
“I’m so excited about what this is going to mean for the future of Annapolis, what it’s going to mean for the future of Maryland,” Moore told the Capital Gazette. “Now is the time for us to move fast, for us to be able to drive forward, for us to not just be able to push back against what we’re seeing from the Trump administration, but push forward, push forward for a new and a future-facing vision for the state of Maryland and for Annapolis.”
Ward 1 Alderman Harry Huntley said he had volunteers door-knocking on Tuesday, reminding residents to vote in the election.
Other candidates pulled out the stops to get more voters to the polls, including Ward 2 Republican alderman candidate Kenneth Vincent’s wife, Kerri Vincent, who was driving a van to the polling places from multiple senior living facilities and a public housing building in the old 4th ward.
“So we rented a van today and we are going on the hour, every hour, all day long, picking people up,” she said.
Capital Gazette reporters Benjamin Rothstein, Maggie Trovato and Bridget Byrne contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Katharine Wilson at kwilson@baltsun.com.
