Gov. Martin O?Malley will endorse interim Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon today ? signaling a divide between big-name politicians, who support Dixon, and law enforcement officials, who back her chief challenger, City Councilman Keiffer Mitchell.
Former U.S. Rep. Kweisi Mfume also is set to endorse Dixon at 11 this morning at the War Memorial Plaza across from City Hall.
“Dixon was a very good lieutenant for O?Malley while City Council president when he was mayor,” Morgan State political science professor C. Vernon Gray said.
“I think voters will see it as a good thing. O?Malley received a great majority of the African-American vote in past campaigns.”
Mitchell says Baltimore?s public safety agencies support him, including the unions of the police department, sheriff?s office and fire department. Attorney General Doug Gansler also has endorsed Mitchell.
“If public safety is what citizens are worried about, does it not send a message that police, firefighters and sheriff?s deputies are all lining up against the mayor?” Baltimore police union president Paul Blair asked.
Dixon must have internal polling that shows her lead over Mitchell is dwindling, Blair said. A July Baltimore Sun poll gave her a 3-to-1 lead over Mitchell.
“She?s tried so hard for so long to distance herself from O?Malley, and now she wants him to support her?” Blair asked. “She?s doing this because her numbers have dropped. If she believed she could win on her own, she would not have turned to the governor.”
Dixon?s campaign manager, Martha McKenna, said Mitchell is misleading voters about his support from Baltimore City police through erroneous campaign ads. The union supports Mitchell, not the whole department, McKenna said.
O?Malley?s support is expected to carry more weight with voters than the unions? endorsements, Gray said.
“O?Malley has a proven voting constituency,” Gray said. “Union endorsements mean something if they translate into dollars and volunteers. Keiffer will need that, because at this point, he?s fighting an uphill battle.”
ON THE NET
Sheila Dixon?s campaign site: sheiladixon.com
Keiffer Mitchell?s campaign site: keiffermitchell.com
