Cohen explores run for Baltimore City Council President
BALTIMORE -- Baltimore City Councilman Zeke Cohen has launched an exploratory committee to consider running for council president next year.
Cohen, a Democrat who has represented Baltimore's 1st district since 2016, said the city is at a crossroads in his announcement Wednesday night.
Last night I launched an exploratory committee to consider running for City Council President in 2024.
— Zeke Cohen (@Zeke_Cohen) January 5, 2023
I will spend the next few months listening to neighbors. We will collectively determine how I can best serve Baltimore. We will move together.https://t.co/Q4HzSBx7DA pic.twitter.com/dgetgVJSv6
"Too many of our schools still look like jails," he said. "Too many of our citizens suffer endless trauma from overdose deaths and violence. The children caught in a mass shooting yesterday deserved so much better. Simply put, too many Baltimoreans have lost faith in our elected leaders."
Cohen touted laws he introduced including the Elijah Cummings Healing City Act, a trauma-responsive care legislation, and the Transparency in Lobbying Act.
As council president, Cohen said the council would "operate with efficiency and transparency" and conduct "meaningful oversight."
He said he would prioritize regrowing Baltimore's population and supporting local hiring in developments in all communities. Cohen also said he would support organized labor in the city, which has seen several unionization efforts in recent years.
If we launch this campaign, it will be uphill," he said in a statement. "But we will win because we've got nothing to lose. We will win because we will build the most diverse, dynamic coalition that Baltimore has ever seen. We will win because if I become President, we become President."