Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake Won't Run for Re-election in Baltimore Next Year

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced on Friday that she will not run for re-election next year, The Baltimore Sun reports.


Rawlings-Blake drew scrutiny when Freddie Gray was killed in police custody in April. In her announcement she stated that she wanted remove election politics out of the decisions she would have to make as mayor to help the city recover and prepare for the trials of the six police officers responsible for Gray's death.

"The last thing I want is for every one of the decisions that I make moving forward — at a time when the city needs me the most — to be questioned in the context of a political campaign," Rawlings-Blake said. "I knew that that I needed to spend time, the remaining 15 months of my term, focused on the city's future and not my own."

Rawlings-Blake became mayor in 2010 when Sheila Dixon resigned. She was then elected to the office in 2011.

"I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve," she said. "I am grateful to be a part of what I know is the renaissance of an amazing city."
Watch her announcement below.

Baltimore Freddie Gray Stephanie Rawlings-Blake