What’s the job: The City Council president is responsible for administration of the City Council. The president assigns City Councilmembers to committees, sets the agenda for City Council meetings and can introduce and vote on legislation. The City Council president is one of five members of the Board of Estimates, which approves city spending and contracts, and is next in succession if the mayor were to leave office. The City Council president is elected citywide to a four-year term.

Democrats

(Kirk McKoy/The Baltimore Banner)

Name: Zeke Cohen

Age: 38

Personal: Lives in Southeast Baltimore with his wife, Reena, and their two children

Education: Holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Goucher College in 2008 and a master’s degree in public policy in 2012 from Johns Hopkins University

Experience: Cohen has represented the 1st District on the City Council since he was elected in 2016. Before running for public office, Cohen worked as a middle school teacher in West Baltimore through the organization Teach for America and later founded a nonprofit to teach kids about community organizing and civic leadership.

Endorsements: State’s Attorney Ivan Bates, Comptroller Bill Henry, The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers (AFSCME) Maryland Council 3, Metropolitan Baltimore AFL-CIO, Baltimore-D.C. Metro Building Trades Council, Baltimore Teachers Union, Bikemore

Notable donors: Ekiben co-owner Ephrem Abebe; T. Rowe Price Group former vice chairman Edward Bernard and wife Ellen Bernard; real estate developer Brandon Chasen of Chasen Companies; former CEO of OM Asset Management Peter Bain and his wife Millicent Bain; Baltimore Fire Officers Local No. 964; Canton Port Workers LLC; CSX Transportation; and CONSOL Energy.

Read The Baltimore Banner profile of Zeke Cohen.

Learn more about Zeke Cohen

Republicans

Name: Emmanuel Digman

Did not respond to biographical questions or the candidate questionnaire.