Running Toward History:
Black Women Vie to Shake Up Baltimore
County’s “Patriarchy”
Seven Black women ran for the Baltimore County Council and three won in Maryland’s primary election — making it likely that at least one of them could become the council’s first Black woman member this November
By STEPHANIE STOUGHTON
Special to Black Women Unmuted
Makeda Scott wouldn’t call line dancing one of her strengths. But there she was in a mirror-walled dance studio near Baltimore, wearing a pink velour sweatsuit and doing her best to keep up at her “Pink & Powerful” line-dancing fundraiser.
Scott is running for the newly created, majority-Black District 3 seat on the Baltimore County Council, informally known as “The Patriarchy” for its lack of diversity over almost 70 years. Public campaign financing and the council’s expansion from seven to nine seats helped create a diverse candidate pool, offering a chance to elect the council’s first Black woman.
In Maryland’s June 23 primary, seven Black women ran in five races and three of them emerged victorious: Scott, Sharonda Dillard-Huffman and Arkia Wade. Scott, a Democrat from Owings Mills, was the first Black woman candidate for Baltimore County Council to qualify for public campaign financing by collecting a minimum of $15,000 in small donations – an unusually high bar in Maryland.
Already a history maker as the first Black woman to lead the county’s school board, Scott could make history again if elected in November. And that, she realizes, requires more than the typical door-knocking, speeches and endorsements if she expects to win over the voters.
“I can’t just do a traditional campaign,” Scott told Black Women Unmuted in an interview. “I feel as a Black woman, I need to campaign differently.”
Hence, the line dancing. She also held a vision-board party to help reset goals and “design the life we desire for 2026,” and began filming a series of sit-downs with small business owners that she’s posting on social media. Scott has joined other female candidates at fundraisers and a karaoke event that left her voice crackling. On May 27, she joined the pastor of a Windsor Mill church for a community meet-and-greet.
Baltimore County: Catching Up To Change
With roughly 850,000 residents, Baltimore County is Maryland’s third-largest county by population. It has flipped from over 90% White in 1960 to one-third Black and almost majority-minority today. The council now consists of six White men and one Black man. Only five women – all of them White – have been elected to the council since its creation in 1956.
The council’s lack of diversity sharply contrasts with the strides made elsewhere. The number of Black women serving in state legislatures broke records last year, according to the Center for American Women and Politics (CAWP), part of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. Maryland held the lead, with Black women representing 18.6% of its lawmakers as of July 2025.
The count of Black women in the 2026 state and federal races isn’t yet available, but experts like CAWP Research Director Kelly Dittmar say new milestones are within reach.
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who won Georgia’s Democratic primary last month, would become the nation’s first Black woman governor if elected in November. In the U.S. Senate, two Black women are now simultaneously serving for the first time in history: Angela Alsobrooks, a Maryland Democrat, and Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Democrat from Delaware. A third Democrat, Illinois Lieutenant Gov. Juliana Stratton, could join them if she wins the November election against Republican Don Tracy.
Emerge Maryland, a nonprofit that recruits, trains and offers a network for Democratic women seeking office, says more than 40 Black women who graduated from its program ran in local, state and federal races, galvanized by issues like unaffordable housing, health-care access, public education and high levels of Black unemployment.
The roster includes Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, up for reelection for District 20 in Montgomery County, and Adrianne Mathis, who dominated the primary race for the District 29B seat representing St. Mary’s County.
Four of Emerge Maryland’s Black alums are campaigning for Congress, said executive director Diana Emerson. Prince George’s County Council member Wala Blegay and Quincy Bareebe, the founder of a home-care business, lost their bids for Maryland’s 5th congressional district seat being vacated by longtime Rep. Steny Hoyer. Fourth district candidate Jakeya Johnson and 1st district candidate Randi White also lost their races.
In the Baltimore County Council races, Emerge Maryland’s graduates include three Black women: Scott, They, along with Emerge Maryland grad Shawn McIntosh, are part of a network of female candidates who exchange information and show up for each other’s events on the campaign trail.
District 3: New & Confusing
Scott is vying for District 3, which includes Owings Mills and part of Randallstown, stretching north to Cockeysville. The newly redrawn council map, approved last September, now includes two majority-Black districts, including Scott’s, and one majority-minority district (compared with one majority-Black district previously).
The District 3 race is one of the most crowded, with one Republican and five Democratic candidates. It also has been confusing, with residents still catching up to redistricting changes.
“A lot of their polling places have changed,” Scott said. “So as I’m going door to door and talking to people, not only am I asking for their vote – I’m also educating them, letting them know we’re in a new district and it includes Owings Mills, where I live.”
In the June 23 primary, Scott faced candidates like Linda Dorsey-Walker, a force behind the push for diversity on the council. Mark Brewster, a former aide to now-retired U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, was prolific on social media and fast on fundraising.
If she wins in November, Scott says her top priorities will include beefed-up constituent services and redevelopment of aging commercial properties, including vacant spots that some residents say are drawing crime.
As Scott knocks on doors to solicit votes, she hears a common complaint: a lack of response from the county. Her solution would be a new system that tracks requests, who’s handling them and where they stand.
Scott also wants to draw healthy food options for neighborhoods that lack them. That’s in line with her hobby of community gardening at Oregon Ridge and Hannah More Park, where she grows lettuce, spinach, broccoli and kale.
Supporters say Scott will have an edge in navigating hard choices due to her community and school-board leadership roles that demanded strong negotiation and communication skills. “Makeda is all of those things,” said Vicki Almond, a former council chair.
Scott led the school board during a time of upheaval – through the COVID-19 pandemic – and pressure from groups like the Baltimore County Parent and Student Coalition and Moms for Liberty, a conservative group that has fought what it considers “woke indoctrination” of students. The board is technically nonpartisan, but her role required more politicking than she had envisioned.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is to get out in front of things but also be prepared for the unexpected,” Scott said. “I was unprepared for the level of attacks that came out of left field.”
Scott led an initiative to identify inequities in the county school system. It found achievement gaps for Black and other minority students, as well as lapses in serving students with disabilities through its Individualized Education Program. An equity committee was created, and funding made available for officers at schools to directly address the issues, Scott said. “You can’t fix something unless you shine the light on it,” said Scott, who’s now co-chair of an equity council that’s an offshoot of the committee.
A Life Immersed In Service
Born in Tampa, Fla., Scott, 54, has twin sons, 27, and a 20-year-old daughter. She was elected to the school board in 2018 and picked as its chair two years later, serving until 2022. Earlier, she worked for former Democratic U.S. Reps. John Sarbanes of Maryland and Laura Richardson of California.
Scott has been shaped in part by her family’s civic roots and early moves across the country. She lived in New Mexico, California, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio and Connecticut – seven states in 14 years — before her mother, Deanna Ikhinmwin, settled the family in Baltimore to work for Morgan State University as community service director.
Ikhinmwin has served on multiple nonprofit organizations, created tutoring and mentoring programs for at-risk youths and found places for students to stay on campus when they had no money to travel home for spring break. Scott’s sister, Shalewa Nyanza, is the founder of Five Star Women of Color, a nonprofit focused on advancing minority women’s economic mobility.
One reason Ikhinmwin wanted her children to live in Baltimore was the racism that Scott encountered in Bowling Green, Ohio. Her family says she was called the n-word and had beer bottles thrown at her from a car on a street. In elementary school, Scott was often the only Black student in her classes.
Along the way, Scott developed resilience – and a bit of a protective shell, Ikhinmwin said. “I don’t think she had a great many friends,” she said. “So, she had time to read and dream.”
Scott has been endorsed by state Del. Cheryl Pasteur, who served with Scott on the county’s school board, and Don Mohler, a former county executive. Another nod came from Almond, who served on the council from 2010-18, including two stints as chair.
The council has always been a good ol’ boys’ club, Almond said. After she and Cathy Bevins were elected in 2010, they were at first excluded from back-room conversations where the men would reach consensus on issues, Almond said.
“They thought we would go along,” she said. “And we didn’t.”
Almond and other council watchers say they’re excited about the Nov. 3 election, which should usher in an entirely new group of leaders and likely its first Black woman – or women.
“I would have to take a break if we don’t see any of them elected,” said Emerge Maryland’s Emerson. “Some of them are just phenomenal. To not see any of them elected to the Baltimore County Council, well, we would have to have a different conversation about the county.”
Stephanie Stoughton is a freelance writer and editor who reports stories at the intersection of power, policy, race and gender.
