Cohen leads Democratic sweep

County councilman and former alderman Josh Cohen was elected mayor of Annapolis last night, claiming victory in a sweeping triumph for Democrats after one of the most unusual campaigns in city political history.

In the three-way mayoral race, Cohen received support from 45 percent of voters, beating Alderman Dave Cordle, R-Ward 5, who had about 42 percent, and independent candidate Chris Fox, who had about 13 percent, according to the city's unofficial count.

"Today Annapolis voters sent a clear message that they want to raise the bar in City Hall," Cohen said last night at a victory party in a ballroom at Loews Annapolis Hotel.

When he is sworn in on Dec. 7, he will succeed Mayor Ellen O. Moyer, a Democrat who has held the office for eight years and could not seek re-election because of term limits.

Cohen's apparent victory came as Democrats captured all five contested seats on the City Council. They will now control seven of the eight aldermanic seats.

"It's clear that voters wanted to change direction," Cohen said, referring to the day's Democratic victories.

With all 16 of the city's precincts reporting, Cohen has a 235-vote lead. He received 3,729 votes while Cordle received 3,494 and Fox trails with 1,056. (There was one write-in vote.)

With 259 absentee ballots to be counted tomorrow, Cordle would have to win nearly all of them to change the results, which still were unofficial as of last night.

Cordle, speaking at Pusser's Caribbean Grill, the Republican

Party election-night headquarters, declined to concede.

"We are going to hold off and see what happens," he said. "Should Josh be the one that prevails, I will offer my support."

Supporters of Cordle packed a room in Pusser's for much of the evening. Although there was a convivial air, bad news started to make its way through the crowd as Republican candidates for aldermen repeatedly came up short.

Cordle sounded a somber note when he addressed the room.

"We fought a hard fight. We worked hard," he said. "This stuff happens."

The Republican said Fox, the independent, "ended up being the spoiler," as he did better than Cordle's campaign had predicted.

"Josh and I were so polarized … he probably took more away from me," Cordle said.

Fox said that while he lost, his presence in the race brought up issues and discussions in city politics in new ways.

"I'm proud of my supporters and I'm proud of my campaign," he said.

Fox, 36, announced his intention to run about two years ago and ran a steady whisper campaign. As an independent candidate, he was unopposed in the primary. But, unlike Cordle, who kept a low-profile during the lull, Fox regularly attended candidate forums.

He also used his bar and restaurant, Sly Fox Pub, as a rallying point for his candidacy, hosting meet-and-greets there and steadily gaining momentum.

Fox said he hasn't made plans to stay in the center of city civic life and will work on a new restaurant he purchased on West Street.

For his part, Cohen became the Democratic nominee under atypical circumstances.

He came in second in the Democratic primary Sept. 15 to Zina Pierre, who withdrew days later after the emergence of details about her rocky financial history, as well as questions about her residency.

The Annapolis Democratic Central Committee named Cohen, 36, as her replacement.

Pierre attended the Democrats' gathering at the Loews ballroom last night, and Cohen acknowledged her and called her to join him on the stage.

A victory by Cohen would leave Cordle, 51, out of city politics once the candidates are sworn in. He favored both a city-manager form of government and a tax cap, two measures that did not make it onto the general election ballot as referendums but currently sit before the City Council as charter amendments.

Road to victory

Cohen has risen through he ranks of local politics. He has been active in civic groups since his teens, was a member of the city Democratic Central Committee, was elected alderman for Ward 8 when he was 28, and was re-elected to the City Council, only to leave when he was elected to the County Council.

Although his win comes while the County Council is deadlocked on whether to approve a casino near the Arundel Mills mall, the vacancy created by Cohen's victory will have little or no effect on that vote.

Last night, Cohen said he was not sure when he would step down from his county post. But no matter what his the timing, the council will almost certainly have to take a vote on the casino without him. Cohen has been a steadfast opponent of slots and his absence essentially will have the same effect as a no vote.

By law, Cohen's successor on the council must be selected by the remaining council members within 30 days of Cohen's official resignation.

Cohen will become mayor in December, when he and the City Council are sworn in.

Cohen won five of the city's eight wards, but lost two of the three that are usually considered vital to a successful campaign.

He won by hundreds of votes in wards 3, 4 and 6, districts whose lines were redrawn in spring 2001 to create a black majority. He lost in Ward 5, Cordle's home ward, by 336 votes. Lines there also were redrawn to make it more likely for a Republican to be elected.

The race between Cordle and Cohen was much closer in wards 1, 2 and 8, the traditional kingmakers in city politics. Cohen only won one - his current home district, Ward 2 - but only by 27 votes. He lost in Ward 1 by 23 votes and in Ward 8 - which he represented when he was an alderman - by just 52 votes.

But Democrats won the City Council races in both Wards 5 and 8.

Democrats sweep

While Cohen won the city's most powerful office, Democrats increased their presence on the council to a total of eight members - including the mayor - by claiming two vacant seats.

Cordle didn't seek re-election so he could run for mayor and Alderman Julie Stankivic, I-Ward 6, didn't run for re-election. They will both be succeeded by Democrats, leaving Alderman Fred Paone as the lone Republican on the nine-member council.

"With Democrats holding eight of the nine seats, the burden of proof is on us to show we can run an efficient and effective City Council," Cohen said.

He said he was successful in yesterday's general election because he changed his strategy from the primary. Earlier, he just talked about changing the tone of City Hall but fell short, he said.

"Voters want to know specifics about what I would do differently," he said. "That's where I failed in the primary campaign."

In the days and weeks to come, Cohen said he plans to appoint key members of his transition team and then name his choices for major roles in city government. He said that while he didn't receive the support from a majority of voters, he wants to lean on Fox and Cordle as much as they are willing.

He said he has people in mind for key positions, and that some will be new to city government while others will be familiar faces. But he declined to elaborate.

Cohen, a married father of two, works as a grants administrator for the Maryland Crime Victims Resource Center. He said he does not know when he will leave that job.

The next mayor's salary will jump from $70,000 to $78,000 and will increase by $10,000 a year over the following two years.