A political action committee backing Baltimore mayoral candidate Sheila Dixon has been airing a television commercial attacking Mayor Brandon Scott, the group’s first major expenditure of the campaign cycle.
The ad, funded by Better Baltimore PAC, focuses on crime during the Scott administration, claiming the city is experiencing an “epidemic” of stolen cars and carjackings as violent crime is “spiraling out of control.”
“Brandon Scott: Nice guy, bad mayor,” the ad concludes.
The ad is the first to emerge in the 2024 race, which pits Scott, a Democrat, against the former mayor Dixon as well as former prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah and businessman Bob Wallace, also Democrats. While Dixon has trailed Scott in fundraising with her campaign committee, her bid to reclaim the mayoralty has been bolstered by the PAC, which has been funded in large part by two donors: John Luetkemeyer of Continental Realty Corp. and David Smith, chairman of Sinclair Broadcasting Group and co-owner of The Baltimore Sun.
The purchase of the ad, which was made last week, prompted a mandatory filing with the Maryland State Board of Elections revealing additional donations have been made by the two men. As of the last filing deadline in January, the PAC reported raising $200,065. Since then, an additional $360,500 has flowed, including $200,000 from Luetkemeyer and $100,000 from Smith. Smith’s nephew, restaurateur Alex Smith of Atlas Restaurant Group, also gave $50,000, records show.
Dixon’s filing in January showed members of the Smith family also made substantial donations to Dixon’s campaign committee. Maximum $6,000 donations were reported from Atlas Restaurant Group; Alex Smith; Eric Smith; Christina Ghani, Alex Smith’s wife; and Frederick Smith, vice president of Sinclair Broadcasting Group. Donations to the PAC, which is prohibited from coordinating with the campaign, are not capped.
Dixon, a Democrat, has appeared frequently on Sinclair’s Baltimore affiliate WBFF-TV, known as Fox 45, both ahead of and during her campaign. She has granted the station exclusive interviews and the station has aired some of her town hall events. She appeared on the station live on the morning of her campaign announcement.
Sophia Silbergeld, president of Adeo Advocacy which is working with the PAC, said the PAC’s first ad began airing last week and will end its run Tuesday. More ads are planned, she said.
The PAC’s most recent campaign finance filing showed it paid $160,870 to Canal Partners Media of Atlanta and $20,000 to RSH Campaigns LLC of Washington, D.C. Both payments were made March 4. The group has also spent $14,500 on consulting and legal fees.
The anti-Scott ad opens with grainy black-and-white footage of downtown Baltimore, played in reverse. “Four years of backwards motion, that’s what Baltimore has experienced since the day Mayor Scott took office,” a voice-over says.
Black-and-white imagery shows a crime scene with the chalk outline of a body on the ground. Beside it sits a handgun. The sound of a gun firing is played. “Baltimore just can’t afford four more years,” a voice-over states toward the end of the ad.
Baltimore’s homicide rate fell below 300 in 2023 for the first time in nearly a decade. Scott’s opponents have argued city residents still do not feel safe amid higher rates of quality-of-life crimes such as car thefts.
Nick Machado, Scott’s campaign manager, called the spot a “dishonest ad in support of a dishonest candidate.”
“Sheila Dixon knows she can’t win on her failed record of corruption, so she’s relying on Republican funders to deceive the public,” he said.
State records show Smith and Luetkemeyer are both registered Republicans.
Asked to respond, Dixon’s campaign distanced itself from the PAC.
“While she is proud to be building a growing coalition of Baltimoreans ready to chart a different direction for our city, she has no control over who is tired of failed city leadership,” spokesperson Luca Amayo said. “Our campaign has no connection to the Better Baltimore PAC.”
