Municipal Election Results on the Shore

Peter Heck • November 14, 2023


Tuesday, November 7, was Election Day across the United States. Democrat Andy Beshear was re-elected as governor in Kentucky, Virginia Democrats gained control of both houses of the state legislature, and Ohio voters voted to ensure a woman’s right to abortion by a constitutional amendment.

 

There were also municipal elections on the Eastern Shore.

 

Salisbury

       

Salisbury elected its mayor and five council seats. Running for mayor were Megan Outten, Jermichael Mitchell, and Randy Taylor. In election night results, Taylor led by 56 votes, with 1,032. Outten was in second place, with 976 votes, while Mitchell received 810 votes. After a count of mail-in ballots on November 9, Taylor extended his lead to 1,120 votes; Outten remained in second place with 1,055, and Mitchell had 861.

 

Results are not official until the remaining mail-in and provisional ballots are tallied on November 17. According to City Clerk Kim Nichols, there are 40 provisional ballots, and at least 25 mail-in ballots outstanding. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by November 7.

 

Council winners were as follows:

  • April Jackson, District 1
  • D’Shawn Doughty, District 2
  • Sharon Dashiell, District 3
  • Michele Gregory, District 4
  • Angela Blake, District 5


All are incumbents except for Dashiell, who takes the seat vacated by Outten.

 


Cambridge

 

In Cambridge, nine at-large town council seats were to be filled from a field of 24 candidates. Cambridge is unusual among Shore municipalities in that it uses a ranked-choice ballot, also known as an “Australian” ballot, in which voters rank the candidates in order of preference; those with the least votes are eliminated after each round of counting and the second-place votes of eliminated candidates are distributed among the remaining candidates. This procedure is repeated until there are clear winners. With 24 candidates, this may take several rounds. This method of choosing candidates is considered a superior method of picking the winner from a large field. To view a sample ballot, click here.

 

Based on the Election Day ballot count, the following candidates currently lead: Sumbul Siddiqui, Burhan Azeem, Marc C. McGovern, Patricia M. Nolan, Paul F. Toner, Jivan G. Sobrinho-Wheeler, E. Denise Simmons, Ayesha M. Wilson, and Joan F. Pickett. If results do not change, all six incumbents on the ballot will be returned to office. Assuming no changes after the final ballots are received, the remaining three seats will be filled by first-term council members Sobrinho-Wheeler, Wilson, and Pickett.

 

Mail-in and provisional ballots are yet to be counted and could alter the results. After the remaining ballots are counted on November 17, results will be official.

 

Uncontested elections in Chestertown and Denton

 

In Chestertown, council members Tom Herz (Ward 2) and Meghan Eflin (Ward 4) were reelected to second terms without opposition.

 

Denton’s election was canceled because incumbent Mayor Abigail McNinch was unopposed.

 

 

Peter Heck is a Chestertown-based writer and editor, who spent 10 years at the Kent County News and three more with the Chestertown Spy. He is the author of 10 novels and co-author of four plays, a book reviewer for Asimov’s and Kirkus Reviews, and an incorrigible guitarist.

 

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