BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) — The waiting ended Friday at the Baltimore County Board of Elections, where final results in two closely watched County Council races flipped longtime Republican-held seats to Democrats after all provisional and mail-in ballots were counted and certified.
In the 5th District, Democratic challenger Shawn McIntosh defeated incumbent Republican Nino Mangione in a race that went down to the wire. The district stretches from Lutherville-Timonium and Cockeysville to the Pennsylvania border. McIntosh finished with 21,539 votes to Mangione’s 19,349.
After the results were finalized, McIntosh reacted emotionally to the win, fighting back tears, saying, “I’m so grateful, yes, I’m so grateful that the people believe in me in such, they just believe in me. It makes me feel so honored.”
McIntosh also said voters are looking for less division in county politics. “People don’t want polarization anymore. People want us to work together. People want to recognize that we’re a purple county. We are in the middle. We are not far left. We are far right. We are purple,” she said.
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In the 9th District, Democrat Arkia Wade defeated Republican Tim Fazenbaker in a tight race that includes Dundalk. Wade won 12,230 votes to Fazenbaker’s 12,037, a margin of 193 votes.
When told she had won, Wade responded, “I did, yay!, Yes!”
Wade’s victory was described as historic because she becomes the first African American woman to represent the district. Wade also noted another first, saying, “I think anytime you’re a first, that’s significant in itself. You know for me it’s kind of sad that it took this long to get here, but I’m happy that I am one of the first to pave the way for other people that look like me. I’m also Muslim, so there’s never been a Muslim black woman on the county council.”
McIntosh’s win also marked a shift in a seat that had been held by a Republican for more than 30 years.
Mangione did not respond to requests for comment.
Democrat Makeda Scott also won in District 3, a result that helps give Democrats a 7-2 supermajority on the newly expanded Baltimore County Council.
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This post was originally published on Fox 45 by Sinclair Media Group.
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