Sheila Dixon Officially Files to Become Write-In Candidate for Mayor
BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Former Baltimore mayor, Sheila Dixon officially files to run as a write-in candidate for mayor in the upcoming November election.
"Looking at the crime that's just out of control, and so many other factors, you know, my heart is still in trying to serve," says Dixon during an interview with WJZ on Monday night.
The Democratic mayoral candidate made it official during a press conference on Tuesday.
"While a write-in candidate has never been successful in recent history in the City of Baltimore, we've seen successful write-in candidacies across the country, including right next door in Washington, D.C. when Anthony Williams ran a successful write-in campaign after being left off the ballot in the 2002 Democratic Primaries," says Dixon.
Dixon says she's encouraging the youth to vote.
"Me doing this will also encourage particularly young people to get out and vote and that their vote can count," Dixon said.
With four weeks until the election questions remain if she could run an effective campaign within the given time frame.
"I don't know," says Dixon. "This is not going to be the traditional campaign election for Sheila Dixon. It's going to be different, it's going to be organic, it's going to be very unique in me reaching to the citizens of Baltimore.
Dixon went head-to-head with Catherine Pugh during the Maryland primary, but fell short of votes.
Late-opening polls and problems with voter rolls and judges are just some of the issues that surfaced during the Primary. State election officials even de-certified the results for a time, saying almost 2,000 ballots were not handled correctly.
Back in May, Dixon decided against a recount, but encouraged the Board of Elections to rectify issues that occurred during the Maryland Primary on April 26th.
RELATED: Baltimore Takes Steps To Avoid Another Messy Election
On Tuesday, she addressed the problems again.
"I believe that there are some very questionable issues in this election. I have never, in all the years that I have been involved—not only in my campaigns but other people's campaigns—have never experienced anything like this before. And I think that it's unfortunate that things happen, but I also believe that we can change that and if that means that if me being in this campaign election for the general campaign is going to have the Board of Elections on their "p's" and "q's" and have the fire at their feet, so be it. But people need to know that their vote counts."
Dixon fell from grace back in 2010 when she was forced to resign after she was charged with misusing gift cards for the needy.
"I think people in Baltimore want to hear my sincerity–that I am sorry for what happened," said Dixon in an exclusive interview with WJZ last year. "I'm apologizing about it. I also know that people want to hear that I have not taken anything for granted in that process of what happened. And I also know that I want to thank those people in Baltimore who have been praying for me, who have been supportive of me."
Now, years later, Dixon says she wants to do what's best for the citizens of Baltimore.
"I know that I am going to have to knock on a lot of doors and I am going to have to educate people. Campaigning is about serving and I have been serving people every day since I stopped campaigning," she said.
Goucher College Field Politics Center Director, Mileah Kromer say it's a last chance effort.
"What voters need to do when they go to the ballot box is click-on write-in, and actually write the name in," Kromer said. "The name has to be spelled correctly. No abbreviations, no nicknames. But in the case where there's not another Dixon running they can just put Dixon in as their write-in so it takes away a little bit of the challenge to the voters to write that in."
What are the chances of a write-in win?
Kromer says, "It's a long shot."
Dixon acknowledges that no mayoral candidate has won a write in campaign in recent history, but that's not deterring her from trying to make history.
"I think the benefit is people know my name and it'as a matter of filling in that little bubble and writing in Sheila Dixon," she says.
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