By Deborah Bailey, Special to the AFRO
U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) has endorsed Councilman Calvin Hawkins for Prince George’s County executive. With a little over a month away from the March 4 special election primaries to permanently fill the county’s top spot, Alsobrooks decided to make her mark in what has turned out to be a broad, diverse and crowded field of candidates.
“Calvin is a lifelong Prince Georgian who understands the people of our county, their needs and their values,” Alsobrooks said in her endorsement issued Jan. 24.
Twelve candidates officially filed for the county executive primaries with the Maryland State Board of Elections for both the Democratic and Republican races.
The Democratic slate comprises at-large Council Members Hawkins and Chair Jolene Ivey, Interim County Executive Tonya Sweat, former county executive Rushern Baker III, State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy and State Sen. Alonzo Washington.
Tech executive Marcellus Crews, retired Major League Baseball player Ron Hunt, and real estate agent Al Slocum round out the Democratic candidates.
Though the county is a Democratic stronghold, there will be a Republican Primary election for county executive this year, with three candidates vying for the permanent seat: George E. McDermott, who most recently ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives seat now held by Glenn Ivey; business owner Jesse Peed and Air Force veteran Jonathan White.
The winners of the March 5 primary election will face off on June 3 in the county’s special general election. The State Board of Elections changed the date from the originally announced May 27 date to allow election workers more time to process ballots and handle other related duties.
Early voting for the special election will begin Feb. 26 to March 3. Polls will be open for early voting, the primaries and general election from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The location of mail-in ballot drop boxes will be announced in the coming weeks.
The winner of the special election will complete the remaining two years left in the current term of the county executive that were unfulfilled after Alsobrooks resigned Dec. 2 to prepare for her new position in the U.S. Senate.
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