Robert Wallace is running again for Baltimore mayor, this time as a Democrat

The race for Baltimore Mayor will get a bit more crowded Thursday with the formal announcement that past mayoral candidate Robert Wallace is once again entering the race.

Wallace, who ran for mayor in 2020 as an independent, is entering the 2024 contest as a Democrat. He’ll make his announcement in front of supporters at the Forum Caterers in Northwest Baltimore Thursday evening.

The longtime Republican who became unaffiliated ahead of his 2020 campaign, but has now registered as a Democrat said in an interview with The Baltimore Sun that he felt compelled to run when he surveyed the field of candidates in the race.

Unlike the crowded 2020 contest, the 2024 field has, thus far, remained tight. Mayor Brandon Scott is running for reelection and former Mayor Sheila Dixon has also entered, her third attempt in the last decade to reclaim the office she forfeited in 2010. Both are Democrats.

In Baltimore, where Democrats outnumber Republicans almost 10 to 1, the Democratic primary is likely to decide the race.

“I’m just not seeing that new leadership emerge when I look at the options people have,” Wallace said. “We’ve got to have better options.”

Wallace, 67, believes he can be that option for voters. He outlined a platform this week involving a tough on crime approach and an overhaul of the city’s education system. Wallace said he would crack down on the city’s open air drug markets and go hard on proven gun offenders, who he said have been offered too much leniency.

“We have people in Baltimore who are prisoners in their own homes,” he said. “We can’t live in a city that way.”

Of the city’s school system, Wallace said he would oust CEO Sonja Santelises and replace the mayor-controlled members of the school board with representatives of industry and the faith community. He said he would survey business leaders about skills they require and institute a curriculum tailored to those needs.

“We’ve got a system now that is teaching kids skills there are no jobs for, no market for,” he said.

Wallace, who graduated from Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in 1974, founded three Baltimore companies. BITHGROUP Technologies Inc. is an IT service provider; Bithenergy Inc. is an energy services company; and EntreTeach Learning Systems LLC provides web-based training for women and minority business owners.

Raised in Baltimore’s Cherry Hill neighborhood, Wallace said he now lives in Mount Vernon, living above his Monument Street office. As he did throughout the 2020 campaign, Wallace still maintains a residence in Howard County.

Given Wallace’s performance in the 2020 race, it’s unclear whether he can be a factor in 2024. As an independent candidate Wallace wrangled just 20% of the more than 233,552 votes counted in the general election. Scott won by a landslide with 70% of the vote.

T.J. Smith, a talk show host on WBAL-AM and a former Democratic mayoral candidate in 2020, said Wallace could offer an alternative for voters looking for a candidate who comes from outside the political realm. Wallace likely has some name recognition from his appearance on the ballot in 2020, although he is far lesser known than both Scott and Dixon, Smith said.

“It’s a heck of a mountain to climb,” Smith said. “He will have to introduce himself.”

Wallace could also play the role of a spoiler. Smith said given Wallace’s experimentation with multiple political parties and his political leanings, he’s more likely to siphon votes away from Dixon than Scott.

“I jokingly say if I’m Brandon Scott, I’m writing campaign checks to Bob Wallace and Thiru Vignarajah,” Smith said, referencing another former mayoral candidate who has flirted with running but remains undecided.

Asked about his party shifting, Wallace noted he has been a Democrat in the past — at some point in the 1970s, Wallace said he became a Republican in the 1980s, believing the party offered the best path forward for women and minorities to get involved in the economy. He became disenchanted with the party amid a rise in extremism, particularly during the presidency of Donald Trump, he said.

Still, Wallace was critical of the Democratic Party in Baltimore during the 2020 race, arguing that Democrats have been in charge of the city for more than 50 years and had failed to bring a “new way and a new day.”

“I need people to hear and see my vision and hear my ideas,” Wallace said this week of his shift to Democratic registration. “Once they see the vision and they hear my ideas, if they still choose to vote for somebody else, OK, that’s their right. But I don’t want to walk away having them not see my vision.”

Mileah Kromer, a pollster and associate professor of political science at Goucher College, questioned how Wallace will be able to raise money for the race in Democratic circles given his shifting party affiliation. Wallace will need to be well funded to compete with Dixon and Scott who both enjoy very high name recognition, she said.

Wallace largely self-funded his last bid for mayor, donating $343,000 to the effort in combination with his wife. Those loans are still outstanding, Wallace said, although they disappeared from his most recent campaign finance report filed in January.

Wallace said he hoped to raise the money necessary for his 2024 bid, rather than paying for it himself. He declined to say how much he would be willing to sink into the race.

In his most recent campaign finance report, Wallace reported having $13,181 as his cash balance, but also a $975 bank account balance.

“God’s been good to us,” he said. “If we decided to put money into it, we could put in money as we have to. But I’m hopeful as we’re reaching out to people who want to see change, who want to see change in Baltimore, I’m hopeful that they will see my vision and they’ll get behind us.”

Kromer said a challenger needs to be someone capable of competing with an incumbent in the mayor and a “very formidable” challenger in Dixon. Dixon was the runner-up in her last two bids for mayor.

“It has to be someone who can fundraise and make inroads with powerful Democrats already serving statewide,” she said. “Democratic voters need to be introduced to who Bob Wallace actually is.”

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