Outgoing City Councilman Ed Reisinger (D-10th District) has endorsed healthcare consultant and Democratic Central Committee member Phylicia Porter in the upcoming election to fill his seat, Porter’s campaign announced today.
The two will appear together during a Sept. 16 campaign event at Baltimore Soundstage.
“Phylicia Porter has both the background and experience needed to serve the people of South Baltimore,” Reisinger said in a statement. “I’m endorsing Phylicia because she is a lifelong resident of Baltimore City with 10 years of experience as a public health professional, who has been talking to more voters across the District than any other candidate.”
Though her campaign has not yet published policy proposals, Porter has on her website and social media placed an emphasis on tackling the city’s problems through a public health lens. Reisinger, who’s served on the council for nearly three decades, said her approach will attack the root causes of issues such as violence, education, transportation and economic growth.
“I’m impressed with her plan for building healthier communities in South Baltimore–it’s exactly the kind of leadership South Baltimore needs,” he said.
In a statement, Porter, who serves on the Democratic Central Committee for the 40th District, said she was a strong supporter Reisinger’s Clean Air Act, which was unanimously passed by the council and placed more severe restrictions on two South Baltimore incinerators. The operators of those facilities have sued the city over the law, arguing it violated state and federal law to target their businesses.
“Having earned Councilman Reisinger’s endorsement, I look forward to earning the support of District 10 voters in next year’s primary and general elections, and if elected, I will seek to live up to Councilman Reisinger’s example of community-focused leadership,” she said.
The 10th District stretches from Violetville to Pigtown in the Southwest portion of the city, and also covers all the neighborhoods south of the Federal Hill-Locust Point peninsula, including Westport, Brooklyn, Curtis Bay and Cherry Hill.
Keisha Allen, president of the Westport Neighborhood Association for the last nine years, also announced her candidacy this past weekend. Allen last year helped to launch a land trust for a handful of South Baltimore neighborhoods as board chair for the Harbor West Collaborative, serves on the board for the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership and was a founding member of the SB7 Coalition.
Neither of them have formally filed to run for the seat in 2020.
Four Democrats have put in paperwork: Ray Conaway, an advocate at Community Law in Action and a former instructor with the Department of Recreation & Parks; Natasha Guynes, the founder of Washington D.C.’s HER Resiliency Center providing support services for women ages 18-25; Kerry Eugene Hamilton, a Cherry Hill resident and former basketball coach; and Cynthia D. Hendricks Jones, a member of District 46’s Democratic Central Committee.
