The Baltimore Sun was recently purchased by David D. Smith, the executive of Sinclair Broadcast Group. It's starting to come to light that Sheila Dixon's campaign is largely being bankrolled by Smith, with his news stations already platforming her with constant town halls and interviews. Smith is also financially supporting her to the tune of $100K.
https://twitter.com/BaltimoreBrew/status/1747752873176309967?s=20Dixon remains the frontrunner, with a poll taken in December showing her at 39% to Mayor Scott's 31%, with 10% going to businessman Bob Wallace. Dixon has received the endorsement of State Delegate Sandy Rosenberg (who has been in office since 1983 and endorsed Scott in 2020) and Councilman Eric Costello (who declined to run for mayor himself...he's also the boyfriend of MD-03 frontrunner Sarah Elfreth).
In 2016 and 2020, Dixon was the initial frontrunner but was widely regarded as only being able to win in a split field due to her infamous corruption scandal. This time, however, she seems to benefit from what is effectively a head-to-head contest with Scott.
Incidentally, just as the mayoralty appears to be swinging to the right, the city council presidency appears to swing to the left — with progressive Zeke Cohen leading incumbent Nick Mosby (husband of Marilyn Mosby).
