Baltimore Mayor Has Fundraising Advantage

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has a big fundraising advantage over her confirmed and rumored opponents as she tries to win election to a full, four-year term.

Campaign finance reports show Rawlings-Blake has more than $842,000 in cash on hand.

That's more than three times her nearest potential opponent, state Sen. Catherine Pugh, who has $252,000 in her campaign account. Pugh has not announced a bid for mayor and says if she does run, she wouldn't make it official until the end of the General Assembly session.

The highest-profile announced challenger to Rawlings-Blake is former city planning director Otis Rolley, who has $106,000 in his account.

Rawlings-Blake became mayor nearly a year ago after Sheila Dixon stepped down as part of a plea deal in a corruption case.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)