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The Dripby Brew Editors7:14 pmMar 15, 20220

Appeals Court moves the Maryland primary to July 19

New filing deadline – on April 15 – gives Marilyn Mosby and others an extra month to decide whether to formally enter the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s race

Above: Voters – and candidates – will have an extra month to wait for Maryland’s 2022 primary election. (Fern Shen)

The Court of Appeals of Maryland today issued an order postponing the state’s primary election from June 28 to July 19.

The filing deadline, which had already been extended from February 22 to March 22, was pushed back again by today’s order.

The new deadline to file is April 15 at 9 p.m.

The changes come as a result of petitions challenging the General Assembly’s redistricting plan, which proposes new boundaries for Maryland House of Delegates and Senate districts.

Election officials have complained the process does not leave the enough time to print ballots and make other preparations.

A magistrate is scheduled to hold hearings on the petitions on March 23.

States redraw legislative and congressional boundaries every 10 years after a new U.S. census.

Today’s court order also:

• Moves the deadline to withdraw from March 24 to April 20.

• Moves the deadline to fill a vacancy in a primary candidacy to April 20.

• Moves the deadline to challenge a candidate’s residency to April 21.

Impact on Baltimore’s SA Race

The new dates extend the campaign for a number of key match-ups, including the wide-open race for governor, where a slew of candidates are vying to succeed Gov. Larry Hogan, who is prevented from running again by term limits.

The extra month perhaps has the most significance for the race to elect Baltimore’s top prosecutor amid the federal indictment of incumbent State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby.

Although Mosby said she plans to run again and has been raising money, observers had been watching closely to see if she would file before what was to be a deadline a week from now.

With today’s court order, she will have an extra month to decide. So will others who may be considering entering the race.

She was indicted on charges of perjury and making false statements on loan applications. Her trial date is set for May 2.

Appearing today to unveil a new data dashboard for her office, Mosby repeatedly refused to discuss her future plans, saying, “I remain focused on the work of this office.”

She did not respond to questions about her campaign website, which was taken down, but reappeared today.

The message posted on the site was cryptic: “Something is happening! Stay tuned.”

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