Back in 2017, Brandon Scott, Zeke Cohen and Bill Henry were Baltimore City councilmen with ambition in their eyes, but few campaign dollars in their pockets.

Collectively, their finance committees raised less than $47,000 that year.

Those fundraising figures have changed dramatically now that they are the mayor, city council president and comptroller who sit on the Board of Estimates, which dispenses hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts and government grants at its twice-monthly meetings.

Last year, the three men collected $709,848 in campaign contributions – a 15-fold increase from their council days.

Not only have the number of donors multiplied for each of them, but the type of giver and the size of the checks they write have undergone a seismic shift. The dollar-and-cents of it emerge from reports filed last week with the State Board of Elections.

Take the case of Zeke Cohen.

Back when he represented southeast’s 1st District, whose Fells Point and Canton neighborhoods teemed with development, relatively few developer dollars came to him.

Mostly his contributions were “from $10 and $50 ticket purchases (or multiples thereof) given by residents attending fundraisers at local restaurants,” we noted back then.

Looking at his 2026 report, it’s hard to find donations under $500 from the developers, contractors, consultants, attorneys and local business owners who helped him recoup from spending more than $1 million to win the council president’s job in 2024

“Friends of Zeke Cohen” started last January 9 with $2,034 in the bank, but ended up with $189,728 this January after paying his fundraiser and various food and entertainment venues.

The Smith Connection

Alex Smith, founder and CEO of the ever-expanding Atlas Restaurant Group, along with extended family members and their companies, was Cohen’s top benefactor.

Between the restaurateur, his wife, his father and his family’s various business interests (H&S Bakery, Sinclair Broadcasting and Northeast Foods), at least $27,500 flowed into Cohen’s campaign.

This amount is considerably more than the $6,000 maximum to a candidate allowed by state law during a four-year election cycle.

But “bundled” campaign contributions in Maryland are perfectly legal. A person’s business associates or family members or various entities, such as LLCs, may make donations to the same candidate. (At the same time, it is unlawful for a candidate’s committee to knowingly accept coordinated financial support over $6,000.)

Cohen did not comment on why he took so much money from Smith, family members and business affiliates, but indicated he had no knowledge of any coordination or of any request for favors.

“I do not engage in quid pro quo,” Cohen wrote in response to Brew questions.

Alex Smith would not answer questions about his contributions.

“Please refrain from emailing me in the future,” he said in an email.

Tripling his War Chest

“People for Brandon M. Scott” currently has over $257,000 for future campaigns. That’s triple the $88,000 reported in his campaign coffers last January.

Scott picked up a lot of small donations, attesting to his general popularity, but many of his four-figure checks were tapped from contractors, developers and nonprofits.

Among them were 13 officers and attorneys from Johns Hopkins University, whose donations came two weeks after their employer won a big victory at the Board of Estimates involving stormwater drains and public roadway closures for a new data science and AI institute at the Homewood campus. (Scott abstained from the vote; his two appointees as well as Cohen and Henry approved.)

Contributions from Johns Hopkins officials came two weeks after the university won a big victory at the Board of Estimates.

Like Cohen and Scott, Comptroller Henry reaped campaign dollars from a dozen companies or people who went before the Board of Estimates last year or were otherwise impacted by board decisions. (All three have said that campaign contributions do not influence their votes or action on the board in any way.)

The filings show “through-put” contributions to two (or all three) of the politicians from businessmen like Howard Perlow and Jackson “Jack” Haden and developers like Mark Sapperstein, Carl W. “Bill” Struever and Alan Bell.

Other generous givers include Allegis Redwood Maxim Public Affairs and Spiniello Companies.

Allegis Redwood Maxim is a lobbying firm associated with billionaire Jim Davis, co-founder of the Allegis Group, and his cousin, Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti. It doled out $6,000 to Cohen, $3,500 to Scott and $1,000 to Henry.

Spiniello is the top sewer contractor in Baltimore, the recipient of tens of millions of public funds stemming from Baltimore’s longstanding sewer consent decree, whose contracts – and cost overruns – are rubber-stamped at BOE meetings. The New Jersey-based company gave $5,000 to Cohen, $3,500 to Henry and $2,500 to Scott.

More facts gleaned from the finance reports:

Friends of Zeke Cohen

Amount raised as councilman in 2017: $25,554
Amount raised as council president in 2025: $273,622
Opening cash balance 1/9/25: $2,043
Ending cash balance 1/14/26: $180,728

Contributors include: Alex Smith and Atlas Restaurant Group ($12,000); wife Christina Ghani ($6,000); father Frederick G. Smith, vice president of Sinclair Broadcasting ($2,500); Comm-Foods, owned by mother’s family ($5,000); uncle William J. Paterakis ($1,000); One Call Concepts and S&F Parkway Drive LLC, entities involved in a controversial utility project ($12,000); Frank Scarfield Jr. and Castle Rock Realty Management ($8,500); Caves Valley Partners and related holdings ($5,000); Allegis Redwood Maxim Public Affairs ($6,000); Jennifer Mielke and Maria Harris Tildon of Johns Hopkins University ($766); trash recycler Jack Haden ($1,500); Comcast and its lobbyist, ex-Baltimore Deputy Mayor Dawn Kirstaetter ($3,750); “Maryland Party” Howard Perlow’s Residential Title & Escrow and Halp Development ($5,000); National Lumber Co. ($4,500); financial services executive Margaret Allen ($4,000); Whiting-Turner President Timothy Regan ($2,000); developer Carl W. Struever ($5,081); Spiniello Companies ($5,000); AFSCME Maryland Council 3 ($1,000); Seawall Development and Donald Manekin ($750); FutureCare Health & Management Corp. ($2,000); Harbor Link Holdings partner Felix Dailoiso ($2,500); security guard company Abacus Corp. ($3,000), developer Mark Sapperstein ($2,000), developer Alan Bell ($1,000).

Expenses include: Adeo Advocacy for fundraising (about $38,000), plus about $32,000 for fundraising events at Soundscape, Cece’s Roland Park, Renaissance Baltimore and Cross Keys Easy Like Sunday.

People for Brandon M. Scott

Amount raised as councilman in 2017: $20,510
Amount raised as mayor in 2025: $285,660
Opening cash balance 1/9/25: $88,030
Ending cash balance 1/21/26: $257,105

Contributors include: Richard O. Berndt, senior partner, Gallagher Evelius & Jones, and 13 other Gallagher attorneys ($12,750); Maria Harris Tildon, vice president for government at Johns Hopkins University ($1,500); Kevin Sowers, president of Johns Hopkins Health System ($1,500); Camille Johnston, Johns Hopkins vice president ($500); Jennifer Mielke, Johns Hopkins director of local government ($500); housing contractor Mahogany Inc. and Rian Hargrave, manager ($6,500); Cheo Hurley, THG Companies and partner Omar Karim, builders of Curtis Bay Rec Center ($11,000); sewer contractor Robert Harrington ($6,000); Constellation Energy PAC ($3,500); Harbor Link Holdings ($6,000); Frank Remesch, general manager of CFG Bank Arena ($3,000); Charles, John, Stephen and William Paterakis of H&S Bakery/Northeast Foods ($4,000); City Hall lawyer-lobbyist Lisa Harris Jones ($2,000); J.P. Grant, financier involved in the “Healthy Holly” children’s book scandal ($1,500); developer Larry Jennings ($2,000); developer Alan Bell ($1,500); Spiniello Companies ($2,500); Allegis Redwood Maxim Public Affairs ($3,500); Deputy Mayor Letitia Dzirasa ($1,500); City Solicitor Ebony Thompson ($1,000); former City Council President Nick Mosby ($1,000); Health Care Facility Management, corporate owner of nursing home chain CommuniCare ($1,000); Michael Brady, CAO of Abacus Corp. ($1,000); Christopher Mfume of The Civic Group ($1,000).

Expenses include: Martin-Lauer Associates for fundraising (about $68,000); Calvin Young, Scott’s ex-chief of staff and current deputy mayor, for travel ($6,248); Fred Curtis, former campaign manager of Stop Sinclair, for consulting ($9,502).

Friends of Bill Henry

Amount raised as councilman in 2017: Under $1,000
Amount raised as comptroller in 2025: $150,566
Opening cash balance 1/9/25: $20,010
Ending cash balance 1/14/26: $100,608

Contributors include: Alex Smith ($2,000); Comm-Foods ($1,000); One Call Concepts ($1,000); Howard Perlow and Halp Development ($7,000); Caves Valley Partners and related holdings ($3,000); Spiniello Companies ($3,500); Castle Rock Realty Management ($1,000); M. Luis Construction ($2,581); J.P. Grant ($2,581); Helm Real Estate Holdings ($6,000); recycler Jack Haden ($1,000); lawyer-lobbyists Lisa Harris Jones and Sean Malone ($1,250); former mayor candidate Mary J. Miller ($1,500); FutureCare ($1,500); Mark Sapperstein ($2,500); Gallagher, Evelius & Jones ($2,000); Whiting-Turner President Timothy Regan ($1,000); National Lumber ($1,000); Planning Commission Chair Jon Laria ($500); Allegis Redwood Maxim Public Affairs ($1,000); Carl W. Struever ($500); developer Jayson Williams’ Mayson-Dixon ($500); former mayor Kurt Schmoke ($500).

Expenses include: Adeo Advocacy for fundraising (about $54,000).