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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / #BLM #M4BL / Walking the Walk: DeRay McKesson Is Running for Mayor of Baltimore

Walking the Walk: DeRay McKesson Is Running for Mayor of Baltimore

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Wesley Lowrey, in the Washington Post, “DeRay Mckesson, Black Lives Matter activist, launches last-minute bid to become mayor of Baltimore”:

… The activist waited until the final hour before the 9 p.m., Feb. 3, filing deadline to launch the surprise, long-shot bid, which begins just 83 days before voters head to the polls. Because Democrats far outnumber Republicans in the city, Baltimore’s April 26 primary is expected to determine who replaces Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, the once-rising star in national Democratic politics who announced last year that she would not seek reelection.

“Baltimore is at a moment,” Mckesson, who becomes the first of the prominent post-Ferguson activists to seek public office, said in a phone interview on Wednesday night. “I’m running to usher Baltimore into a new era where our government is accountable to its people and aggressively innovative in how it identifies and solves problems.”

Mckesson, 30, joins a crowded field that includes former mayor Sheila Dixon, who is leading in the polls, state Sen. Catherine Pugh, and city councilmen Carl Stokes and Nick Mosby as well as 10 other Democratic candidates…
===========
… [O]n a brisk Saturday afternoon in January, a paper sign was taped to the building’s thick glass front door: “DeRay’s meeting: third floor.”

The four-hour policy meeting — attended by a Washington Post reporter on the condition that details of the gathering would not be reported until after Mckesson made his final decision on whether he would enter the race — was a free-for-all, in which a dozen participants reviewed data on education, housing, and criminal justice.

In attendance were Johnetta Elzie and Samuel Sinyangwe, two activists who, with Mckesson, run Campaign Zero (the fourth partner, Brittany Packnett, joined the meeting via conference call); Donnie O’Callaghan, an education policy analyst and Mckesson’s best friend, and several city officials who knew Mckesson from his time working for the school district and his prior nonprofit and community organizing work.

While Mckesson is best known publicly for his advocacy around criminal justice and policing policy, the bulk of the meeting was spent discussing a host of other issues: education, housing and public health…

Much more detail, and useful links to other long profiles of Mckesson, at the link.

Reader Interactions

90Comments

  1. 1.

    OzarkHillbilly

    OT: We have a roads and bridges crises here in the great state of Misery. Every election there is a new funding proposal* to fix the widening gap in what is needed and what the lowest gas tax in the country** brings in. So what are we going to do about it?

    JEFFERSON CITY • Top Republicans are pitching a plan to fix Missouri roads and bridges with money being saved by cuts to welfare programs.

    Republican governance at it’s finest.

    *the latest was a hike in the sales tax. i voted against it because why should people who don’t even drive pay for it? yes they benefit but the trucking industry benefits a hell of a lot more.

    **IIRC-might be wrong

  2. 2.

    Patricia Kayden

    Good luck to DeRay. Hopefully he’ll highlight important issues even if he doesn’t win.

  6. 6.

    Schlemazel

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    When pols here on the frozen tundra suggest raising gas taxes we are always reminded that or neighbor Wisconsin has lower gas taxes and it would be sooooo hard on boarder gas stations (plus UNFAIR!!!). But I get to WI a couple times a year and I never see their gas prices lower than ours. Last time was the last week of December and prices around the Milwaukee area were 30 cents higher than here, from there to the Western boarder they were in the same range as those in Eastern MN.

  8. 8.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    “Marco Rubio finished third in a caucus state and we’re all supposed to drop out?– that’s absurd!”

    ¿Jeb? on yesterday on Fox News

    Beltway is trying to pressure ¿Jeb? to drop out, but he’s won’t have it, mainly because he’s pissed at Lil’ Marco and wants to deny him the nomination.

  9. 9.

    Keith G

    Every time I have seen DeRay Mckesson do an interview, I have seen a very intelligent, focused and charismatically gregarious young man. It would be really cool if he can put together a winning coalition that helps him win and govern a troubled city in a difficult time.

  12. 12.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    New PPP National Poll — Feb 3rd. (Change from Dec 18 poll in parenthesis)

    Trump……..25% (-9)
    Cruz……….21% (+3)
    Rubio………21% (+8)
    Carson…….11% (+5)

    Rest in single digits.

  14. 14.

    Keith G

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    but he’s won’t have it, mainly because he’s pissed at Lil’ Marco and wants to deny him the nomination.

    Possibly. And it might also be about the over 100 million dollars in non-refundable donations. About half that cash is gone and the doners might want to see a little more attempted ROI before the candidate walks away.

    More than likely there also is a bit of pressure to try to pull something out of the JEB! train wreck so that loser stench does not cover the next generation of Bush.

  19. 19.

    bin Lurkin'

    Smart move announcing at the last moment, now McKesson will control his own narrative better than he would have otherwise, don’t give potential opposition time to think.

    Also pretty good evidence he’s not looking for self-aggrandizement, he will be a serious threat to the establishment in Baltimore.

  23. 23.

    David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch

    There are voices in this world, particularly over the Internet, who are constantly claiming that you have to choose between your identities — as a Muslim, for example, or an American. Do not believe them. If you’re ever wondering whether you fit in here, let me say it as clearly as I can, as President of the United States: You fit in here — right here. (Applause.) You’re right where you belong. You’re part of America, too. (Applause.) You’re not Muslim or American. You’re Muslim and American. (Applause.)
    ***

    The notion that America is at war with Islam ignores the fact that the world’s religions are a part of who we are. We can’t be at war with any other religion because the world’s religions are a part of the very fabric of the United States, our national character. (Applause.)

    Rep. Keith Ellison ‏@keithellison

    Just left Baltimore Mosque where Pres. Obama gave historic speech re inclusion of all faiths. Stood against hate.

    “We’re going to miss this man when he’s gone” ~ Jonathan Alter

  24. 24.

    Baud

    @BillinGlendaleCA: If he can win New Hampshire, then he might be able to beat Trump in South Carolina, which is a religious state. At that point, it might be Cruz against the establishment candidate, which looks like it’ll be Rubio.

  26. 26.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Is there any talk about doing what they’ve done in satby’s area — retropaving asphalt roads to gravel roads to save money?

    Between this and Flint water, how can it not be obvious that Small Government is a failure?

  28. 28.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    I can’t imagine the GOP establishment ever putting up with Cruz. You can already see them falling behind the Big Booted Boy.

  29. 29.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @debbie: Yeah, they call it “focusing our funds”. This past summer tho, they repaved my little 2 lanes which go from a wide spot in the road to nowhere at all. Some politically connected somebody lives out here and I’m pretty sure I know who it is.

  31. 31.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: I doubt Cruz will win New Hampshire; “Boy Wonder” Marco(stay thirsty my friend), maybe. New Hampshire doesn’t like to follow the lead of Iowa.

  32. 32.

    MomSense

    @debbie:

    Repubkicans always talk about government budgets as if they are like families sitting at the kitchen table deciding how to tighten their belts. They never say we are letting the roads go back to gravel and the bridges rot and fall down just like families who let their roofs collapse rather than spend any money to protect their biggest investment.

  38. 38.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch:

    Beltway is trying to pressure ¿Jeb? to drop out, but he’s won’t have it, mainly because he’s pissed at Lil’ Marco and wants to deny him the nomination.

    I’ve been told by the sanest Republican I know that her political co-religionists are convinced that Trump is only in it to keep ¿Jeb? from getting the nomination. They think Trump will drop out when Jeb does.

  39. 39.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Baud: You’d prefer to run against tRump? Cruz would be easier to run against, and Marco “Boy Wonder” is the next Dan Quayle.

  45. 45.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Baud: Policy-wise, Rubio and Cruz are actually pretty similar–except that Rubio would be more of a neocon hawk. But Rubio is probably harder to beat.

  50. 50.

    Matt McIrvin

    @debbie: It’s the usual cycle of modern governance: when government services break down because they’re underfunded, it’s because government doesn’t work, so we should stop throwing our money away and cut funding some more.

  51. 51.

    debbie

    @Baud:

    I think Cruz will show Rubio to be the inept child he is. I’m still confident Cruz will never be accepted as mainstream (which he doesn’t want, but would be required to become the candidate of choice).

    @MomSense:

    Someone needs to point out very loudly how the GOP’s policies of cost cutting run counter to their vision of America as the Exceptional Leader of the Free World.

  53. 53.

    debbie

    @Matt McIrvin:

    It’s the usual cycle of modern governance

    Food stamps are one thing, but infrastructure is far more basic to this country’s economic machine. My hope is that the GOP has overreached for the last time.

  55. 55.

    msdc

    @bin Lurkin’:

    Smart move announcing at the last moment

    Waiting to file until 83 days before the primary, when you have never held elected office before, when you haven’t even lived in the city for years, is not a smart move.

  62. 62.

    Hillary Rettig

    Happy about McKesson – hope for 1000 more like him!

    I agree with Baud! – Trump over Cruz any day. Really says something about the latter than even his fellow assholes can’t stand him.

  63. 63.

    Cheap Jim, formerly Cheap Jim

    @msdc: I agree with you. If you want to knock down Sheila Dixon, and it’s still her race to lose, you need to raise support. And less than 3 months may not be enough time to be anything other than yet another Not-Dixon.

  64. 64.

    Soprano2

    @OzarkHillbilly:
    I voted against that sales tax too. I had the exact same thoughts about it you had, plus I know that several years ago when we directed all the money from license plates and driver’s licenses to MODOT they sold 30 year bonds to finance every item they could on their big wish list, which is why they ran out of money so fast. They need some accountants to budget for them, because evidently engineers don’t have an understanding of how to do that. The state legislature needs to raise the gas tax so that semi trucks pay their fair share for road maintenance. Crap, I paid $1.33 per gallon the last time I filled up, do you think anyone would notice an extra nickel right now?

  65. 65.

    Uncle Cosmo

    Per Wiki, here is the list of candidates that DeRay faces off against:

    Cindy Walsh, academic and government reform activist.
    Gersham Cupid, student and minister
    Richard Black, Accountant
    Mack Clifton, former Member of the Texas State Guard and minister
    Sheila Dixon, former Mayor of Baltimore
    Elizabeth Embry, Chief of Criminal Division, States Attorney
    Mike Maraziti, business owner
    Connor Meek
    Nick J. Mosby, Baltimore City Councilmember for the 7th District
    Collins Ottona
    Catherine E. Pugh, State Senator and former Baltimore City Councilmember for the 4th District
    Carl Stokes, Baltimore City Councilmember for the 12th District
    David Warnock, businessman
    Calvin Allen Young
    Patrick Gutierrez, former reporter, businessman

    Dixon, Stokes & Pugh are presumed to be the frontrunners due to their longstanding political connections. But none of them inspires any particular confidence outside their circles of family, friends & cronies.

    Most of us City Democrats are undecided & open to anyone with a plausible plan. DeRay will have his chance to be heard.

  66. 66.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Soprano2: It is insanely stupid to not raise the gas tax right now. MODOT needs all their funding to come from dedicated streams that the legislature can’t raid for their newest subsidized industry.

  67. 67.

    Elizabelle

    @debbie: Thank you for spotlighting the Cruz kid recoiling vid. Haven’t watched it yet (visiting my sister in the land of sporadic internet), but bookmarked it.

    Somehow just not in a TrusTed mood at the moment.

    Good morning all.

  68. 68.

    Cheap Jim, formerly Cheap Jim

    @Uncle Cosmo: McKesson has a lot to say, and is free of the stink of cronyism so often wafting from the city council chamber. But will he be heard? I believe that like I believe it was a good idea to run Anthony Brown for governor right after the insurance exchange failed to work as advertised.

    Edit: I can’t even remember his name consistently, which makes it hard to fill in a ballot.

  70. 70.

    sparrow

    @Keith G: I had previously been very interested in a neighbor of mine who is running (Elizabeth Embry, also a political neophyte, but a really good public servant to the city for years), but I might switch to McKesson depending on what kind of ideas he has. Cuz Baltimore NEEDS some freaking new ideas. The old ones suck.

  73. 73.

    satby

    @MomSense:

    They never say we are letting the roads go back to gravel and the bridges rot and fall down just like families who let their roofs collapse rather than spend any money to protect their biggest investment.

    Yes they are. And though they don’t want to pay reasonable taxes to keep roads paved and bridges repaired, they will be the first to bitch loudly about the “damn government” not maintaining roads when they blow a tire or bend a tie rod.
    Just like the Congressional committee hearing testimony on the Flint water crisis decided it was a failure of “government” at “all levels”. Not failure of a particular ideological policy and the fairly easy to predict outcome, but of “government”.

  75. 75.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: Well, we wouldn’t want to politicize it by pointing out that it was the predictable result of Republican governance, would we now?

  76. 76.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: Especially not in a Congressional committee (run by Republicans) hearing that has as its focus an investigation into how the EPA didn’t protect Flint by enforcing the clean water act.

  78. 78.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @satby: Would that be the same underfunded EPA that is supposed to enforce environmental regulations they want to eliminate entirely?

  80. 80.

    FEMA Camp Counselor

    Good luck to the guy. I’d love for this to be the start of more BLM activists running for office.

  82. 82.

    Woodrow/asim

    Given that I just hit Season 5 of THE WIRE, I’m really fascinated by Mckesson’s run in Baltimore. Will def. keep an eye on that…

  85. 85.

    satby

    @OzarkHillbilly: the very same, go figure!
    @Matt McIrvin: which brings us full circle to :

    It’s the usual cycle of modern governance: when government services break down because they’re underfunded, it’s because government doesn’t work, so we should stop throwing our money away and cut funding some more.

  86. 86.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @geg6: Yah, but the thought of Earley fleeing subpoena-waving US Marshalls was just so much fun.

  87. 87.

    jake the antisoshul soshulist

    You can see who the serious grifters are.
    Baby Doc and the frothy mixture just didn’t
    have their heart in it. Now Carson he really
    means it. Kasich, Christy et al are running a cabinet position. Bar told JEB! to come home on his shield.

  89. 89.

    Paula

    @rikyrah:

    Jesus, I wish I didn’t follow up on the Deray backlash.

    It makes me hate the narcissistic mess that is calling itself left-wing politics in this country.

    God forbid someone with the talent but also the fortitude to go into mainstream politics actually try to grab onto an opportunity to reach more people.

  90. 90.

    Paula

    @Paula:

    Also, “respectability politics” as a pejorative in this sense tends to imply that trying get power already means you’ve sold out. Like, activists are supposed to just be symbolically protesting on the sidelines forever and aye. You kinda need people on the inside, too.

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