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Prince George’s County Council Chair Jolene Ivey held a commanding lead Tuesday in the special election to fill an at-large seat on the 11-member council.
With all precincts reporting Tuesday night, Ivey had received 9,065 votes of 18,510 tallied in the Democratic primary, or just under 49%, according to unofficial results. Of her total, 7,521 votes came from mail-in ballots, which accounted for the vast majority of votes case.
It appears that Ivey, who was leading a crowded Democratic field, will face Michael Riker, who garnered 478 votes out of 1,011 counted so far in the Republican primary. Riker, a retired police officer, had 47% of the vote against three GOP challengers Tuesday night.
The winner of the Democratic primary would be heavily favored to win the seat in the Nov. 5 general election in the heavily Democratic jurisdiction.
Election officials still need to count provisional and more mail-in ballots.
The winner will replace Jamel “Mel” Franklin, a council member for the past 14 years who abruptly resigned June 14, a week before he was charged with multiple counts in what authorities said was a theft scheme that involved more than $133,000 from his campaign account.
His replacement will serve the remaining two years of his term.
The special election for Franklin’s seat is expected to cost at least $1.3 million.
If Ivey, who currently represents the county’s 5th District, is the eventual winner, the county would have to have to hold a special election next year to fill her 5th District seat.
Ivey aggressively sought the vacant seat with large campaign signs posted throughout the county. She even had a television commercial that began with words of thanks from County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D), who’s running against former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan for U.S. Senate.
Ivey’s commercial touted endorsements from more than 80 “local leaders” with pictures of Alsobrooks and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-5th).
Michael White of Hyattsville didn’t realize the special election was taking place until he saw it online Tuesday morning. He drove to cast his ballot in person at Carrollton Elementary School.
“I voted for Jolene Ivey,” he said. “I definitely liked she was already backed by a lot of senators that I was aware of. I liked that she was also backed by Angela Alsobrooks.”
White was able to quickly cast his vote, as turnout Tuesday was extremely light. That’s because thousands of voters chose to cast their ballots by mail.
Out of the 19,521 total votes tallied Tuesday, 16,116 ballots had been mailed in, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections website.
Virginia Turner of Upper Marlboro Turner placed her ballot inside a drop box Tuesday outside the Non-Traditional Program North building in Bowie. Turner cast her ballot for Bowie Mayor Tim Adams, who received the second-highest number of votes in the Democratic primary, with 5,271.
The other Democrats who sought the vacant seat and their vote totals are:
- Tamara Davis Brown with 1,847;
- former Del. Angela M. Angel with 949;
- state Del. Marvin E. Holmes Jr. with 447;
- Gabriel Njinimbot with 322;
- Judy Mickens-Murray with 218;
- Leo Bachi Eyombo with 115.
Kiesha D. Lewis, a Democrat who withdrew her candidacy last month, garnered 276 votes.
The three other Republican candidates were Jonathan White with 306 votes, Kamita Gray with 119 and Isaac Toyos with 108.
