Perhaps if the Baltimore Sun's editorial staff had done their jobs and researched this race, Shannon would be representing the 13th District in January. I usually dismiss people who accuse the Sun of being in the pockets of certain politicians as crazies, but the Sun perpetuated this stereotype by blindly endorsing a lazy, do-nothing mushmouth like Warren Branch.

Rusty's comment is spot on. I, for one, will be writing Shannon's name in for the general election.

It certainly is abundantly clear that nobody on the Sun's editorial board lives in the 13th District. They should be ashamed of endorsing Branch. The Baltimore Brew had a great article (sadly, after the primary) about just how the 13th has thrived with Branch as our councilman.

I agree with you Rusty.
He is a joke. He is good for lying, no-shows ect. No one in my neighborhood voted for him.

The joke is on the 13th district, and the rest of the city by extension. Another example of political power being more driven by people's last names than their actual worth to the district (see: Welch, Pete to begin with.). Here's hoping 2015 turns out better than this election did.

Having my neighborhood redrawn (from 1st to 13th district) and losing Jim Kraft as my representative was bad enough.

Having this clown Branch as our representative now is enough to make me cry. He's totally worthless, and yes, I've done my homework on all the candidates.

@Cory - Since they endorsed Branch, I can guarantee you that none of the Sun editorial board live in the 13th district.

I am starting to get the impression that the Sun no longer cares about city residents and instead attempts to cater to the county crowd by not reporting any of the things city residents care about such as festivals, shows or events. Instead, the Sun writes article after article about urban decay and pessimistic views of events (remember the Grand Prix?) while ignoring all the progress that is being made and the great things that are happening. This way the suburban readers can feel "safe" in their counties which are seeing exponential murder rate increases (over 20 so far in both Baltimore and Anne Arundle counties and we still have 3 more months to go! That means 30% of the murders in the Baltimore region are taking place in the surrounding counties, a nearly 50% increase over the last five years which of course the Sun decides to ignore...).

The only thing as a city resident I can think to do to solve this situation is to cancel my subscription to the Sun and just start reading sources that actually care about the city and report about the things that actually matter. Check out the Baltimore Brew website if you want to see what a real news source dedicated to this city looks like.

I don't know why anyone would pay to read the sun. their grammar is bad, basic spelling mistake a spell checker would pick up.

They aren't relevant anymore. Remember when the old white editor used to be on the Sunday morning news shows, guess they aren't respected anymore.

If everyone who voted for someone other than Mr. Branch in the primary writes in Shannon's name for the general election, she can still take him down. Too bad even less voters are likely to turn out for the general election than the record low turnout for the primary.

Spread the word in the 13th! We don't have to rubber-stamp the primary winner. Mr. Branch originally won his seat by merely 50 primary votes and now hopes to retain by a 43 vote margin. We can do better!

The re-election of the incumbent is a tragedy for the residents of District 13, indeed. Those of us who live in adjacent districts will also continue to suffer from the absence of leadership in that district as well. The debris, dysfunction, disinvestment and dismay that plague that area will continue to flow unimpeded into surrounding areas, so whether Branch is our councilman or not, we all pay a price.

I second all of the above comments, and add one more:

despite this heartrending setback, the days of politics as usual really are fading. Don't let this thing trick you into despair.

The demographics of this city are changing--and spare me laments about population loss, bc those who left contributed little to the city anyway. As a result of the demographic shift, new political leaders are emerging, and winning office, bc new voters demand that they do so. For example, Bill Ferguson--a visionary, progressive young upstart-- challenged and trounced an incumbent who no longer represented the aspirations of the city's emergent creative class. Ferguson and Sneed both belong to the creative class. We love this city just as much as--often more than--anyone who was born here. We believe Baltimore can be great once again. And hey, we vote.

Tens of thousands of college-educated urbanophiles--be they financial analysts or artists--have chosen to live in Baltimore, even when other cities, like San Francisco or New York of DC, beckoned. We chose to be here, we've invested our hearts and our money here, and we're not inclined to tolerate the old-time, "mush-mouthed" status quo. We're the people who elected Bill Ferguson, Mary Washington, and Luke Clippinger. We hope to have another shot at electing Shannon Sneed, too.

Had the District 13 race not been diluted by so many candidates, had turnout been higher, had the multitude of long-disenfranchised citizens had any faith left, then Sneed would have trounced Branch, easily. As demographics in that district continue to shift, tolerance for backwardness will disappear. Its just a matter of time. And this shift is good for everyone--absolutely everyone, no matter what background, education level, or creed.

The moment for young, progressive, creative, risk-taking leadership has arrived. Our changing demographics make this moment possible.

We dearly hope that Sneed will run again.

Rumor has it that there will be a write in campaign.