Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says she will not seek re-election

“Much work remains to be done, and I will spend the remaining 15 months of my term as Mayor continuing to be focused on our City’s future and moving this City forward”, Rawlings-Blake said. The announcement comes just days after officials said the city would pay Freddie Gray’s family $6.4 million to settle civil claims over his spinal injury.

The mayor said she had been thinking about the decision for two months and had become convinced that she needed to focus on healing the city and reforming its police department.

“Many important decisions lie ahead, both from recovering from April’s unrest and managing our city through the multiple trials we have coming up”, said Rawlings-Blake, referring to the prosecution of the six officers charged in Gray’s death.

He said he empathized with her as she coped with the fallout from Freddie Gray’s death in police custody.

“I want to thank and commend Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake for her unwavering service to the town of Baltimore“.

“I think it takes a lot of courage for her to make a decision like this, because it’s not the ordinary progression of things”, Watson said.

Speaking of which, is there any chance that Baltimore might but some additional thought into selecting their next mayor as well? I’m constructive that this choice didn’t come calmly, however it’s proof of her true ardour for Baltimore. In part the FOP says, “We look forward to leadership that makes partnering with public safety a priority”.

She became council president in 2007 and was appointed mayor in 2010, when Dixon resigned following a misdemeanor conviction involving the theft of gift cards.

Reading from prepared remarks, maintaining her composure but with the words sometimes tumbling out rapidly and a catch in her voice, Rawlings-Blake even employed some of her trademark dry humor.

I wonder if Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will get an “under the table” cut of Freddie Gray’s settlement since she has her paws in everything.

A crowded field of challengers has been hovering, announcing their intention to run against her as the April primary draws near.

It’s way too soon to determine whether his strategy to court Black and minority voters will win votes at the polls, but Sanders has overtaken Clinton for the first time among Iowa Democrats likely to caucus in February, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday morning. In so doing, he was the last person to beat Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in an election.

“This is one of those moments where she’d been better off saying ‘Boy I said that?” Rawlings-Blake won a full term in 2011.