Mail-in ballots for Tuesday's special primary election are canvassed Aug. 9 at James McHenry Elementary School in Lanham. Photo by William J. Ford.
With about 85% of the votes counted, Prince George’s County Council Chair Jolene Ivey is maintaining her strong lead since Tuesday’s special primary election in the race for a vacant at-large council seat.
According to unofficial results Friday, Ivey had received 28,723 of the 60,340 tallied in the Democratic primary, or nearly 48%. That’s more than 10,000 votes ahead of the second-place Democrat, Bowie Mayor Tim Adams, whose 18,410 votes accounted for about 30% of the vote Friday.
Margins were similarly broad in the Republican primary, where front-runner Michael Riker, a retired police officer, had 1,211 votes out of 2,662 tallied, or just over 45%. Jonathan White was second with 820 votes, or 31%.
Prince George’s County Election Administrator Wendy Honesty-Bey said Friday about 85% of the ballots have been counted, and votes will not be certified until Aug. 16.
She said about 1,800 provisional and mail-in ballots still need to be counted. In addition, mail-in ballots postmarked Tuesday could still be received.
Even with ballots outstanding, Riker and Ivey appeared to have insurmountable leads and will likely face each other in the Nov. 5 general election.
The Ivey campaign had scheduled a watch party for after Tuesday night’s election , but it got canceled after she tested positive for COVID-19. In a text message Friday evening, Ivey thanked voters for their support.
“It’s gratifying to have my hard work for our county recognized and appreciated by so many in our community! It was such as compressed campaign, and it was hard to know if our message was getting through, especially with such a large field of candidates,” she said. “I can’t wait to get back out to help elect Angela Alsobrooks to the U.S. Senate and Kamala Harris to be our next president!”
If the current results remain, Ivey would be heavily favored to win the seat in the deeply Democratic county.
The winner of the Nov. 5 general election will replace Jamel “Mel” Franklin, a council member for the past 14 years who abruptly resigned June 14. A week later he was charged with multiple counts in what authorities said was a theft scheme that involved more than $133,000 from his campaign account.
Franklin’s replacement will serve the remaining two years of his term.
If Ivey, who currently represents the county’s 5th District, is the eventual winner, the county would have to hold a special election next year to fill that seat.
As of Friday, the tallly for other Democrats who sought the at-large seat was:
- Tamara Davis Brown with 5,518;
- former Del. Angela M. Angel with 3,235;
- state Del. Marvin E. Holmes Jr. with 1,429;
- Gabriel Njinimbot with 1,131;
- Judy Mickens-Murray with 661; and
- Leo Bachi Eyombo with 400.
Kiesha D. Lewis, a Democrat who withdrew her candidacy last month, still received 833 votes.
Besides Riker and White, the other Republican candidates were Kamita Gray, who had 319 votes as of Friday, and Isaac Toyos with 312.
Out of the 63,002 total votes tallied as of Friday, 59,597 ballots had been mailed in, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections web site. That’s more than the 53,653 mail-in ballots cast in Prince George’s County in the May presidential primary .
“I am totally surprised that a lot of people voted in this election. I’m happy, but surprised,” Honesty-Bey said.
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