7/11/2007

First and Only
It's a One-Party Race in the 1st District
By Van Smith

THE BALTIMORE CITY ELECTORATE continues to shrink, but the number of voters in the city's first councilmanic district, along the southeast waterfront, is growing by leaps and bounds. The latest voter-registration data show nearly 25,000 voters, a 25 percent increase over 2003, when the last City Council primaries were held. More may register between now and the Aug. 21 deadline, but as it stands, the Democrats have two-thirds of the 1st's voters, and the remainder is split evenly between Republicans and everything else--categories that have grown in the last four years, while the Dems' share of the pie has shrunk.

Nonetheless, only Democrats have filed to run in this particular race, so only Democrats will go to the polls in the 1st District primary, set for Sept. 11. The district's other voters will have to watch by the sidelines to see if a signature-gathering candidate can meet the petition requirements to appear on the Nov. 6 general-election ballot. Otherwise, following tradition, Democrats will decide who fills the council seat.



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http://www.citypaper.com/digest.asp?id=13838