During past visits to the Congressional Black Caucus’ annual convention, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott was the one vying for attention. This year, it was he who was in demand.

During the five-day conference last week, Scott spoke on nearly a half dozen panels, appearing alongside former Biden White House officials and Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock. Fellow panelists from cities across the country heaped praise on the mayor.

Scott was also a hit with attendees, who lingered after panels to grab a handshake or a selfie with the man of the hour. He posed for pictures with groups of adolescents, traded jokes and slipped Afro picks embossed with the city seal into a few waiting hands.

Within days of returning to Baltimore, Scott was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Next, leaders the publication deemed “rising stars.”

You need not look far for Scott lately. He’s everywhere. The second-term mayor is a repeat guest on cable news, the darling of Bloomberg Philanthropies and a speaker at the Clinton Global Initiative’s annual meeting.

The appearances, coupled with a recent Martha’s Vineyard fundraiser, raise questions about Scott’s aspirations. The son of West Baltimore has focused largely on local office until now, save a long-shot bid for lieutenant governor in 2018.

Political observers agree Scott’s political prospects are increasingly bright, but they say a statewide office such as governor may prove too difficult a challenge.

“Is a congressional seat potential?” mused T.J. Smith, an alum of Baltimore government who now hosts a radio show. “I’ve long believed at the moment Congressman [Kweisi] Mfume said he was going to be retiring, he [the mayor] could walk into that seat.”

Scott and his staff insist he is focused on serving as mayor and plans to run again. The uptick in national appearances isn’t for political purposes, they said, but a byproduct of Baltimore’s progress on crime — homicides dropped to a record low in August. They also believe it’s a necessity in the age of Donald Trump.

At the Congressional Black Caucus event, Scott’s former chief of staff Marvin James could barely contain his glee as he watched the mayor work a crowd of youth attendees.

“In spaces of gun violence prevention, he’s a rock star,” James said. “They know him.”

It wasn’t always this way. For the first half of Scott’s administration, crime stats trended in the wrong direction, leaving little to brag about. In 2023, the city’s homicide count, which topped 300 for almost a decade, finally fell below the grim benchmark. It has continued to fall since. Scott credits in large part his Group Violence Reduction Strategy, which targets would-be shooters or victims with social services.

At the same time, several large-scale events shined a spotlight on Baltimore, starting with the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024. Online trolls watching Scott speak during an early-morning news conference branded him a DEI mayor, a derogatory twist on the acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion.

The mayor clapped back with cable news appearances, pronouncing himself a “duly elected incumbent.”

Then came the second Trump administration and an onslaught of attacks on American cities. As the president commandeered control of the Washington, D.C., police department and deployed the National Guard to patrol city streets, he singled out other cities where he was most likely to head next. Baltimore, a city he deemed “so far gone,” made the list.

Scott’s national appearances multiplied in response. The mayor rotated through a circuit of cable news shows, arguing the city was not in a state of emergency and, in fact, experiencing a reduction in crime. Quick retorts on sleek templates were posted across his social media accounts.

Smith said Scott has seized upon opportunities that were essentially handed to him.

“If Trump did not say ‘Baltimore,’ would Mayor Scott have injected himself into that conversation? Probably not,” Smith said. “Some of them called him a DEI hire. When stupid people say stupid things, that brings attention.”

Scott said his increasing national appearances have come naturally as Democrats have sought out counter-narratives to Trump, who has painted cities as a hellscape.

“In this moment we’re in, folks are elevating the leaders in the places that are having the success to counteract the stuff that’s coming out of D.C. and showing that we’ve made great progress doing these things with these great leaders,” he said. “We do not need to shy away from that.”

Scott said it would be “extremely selfish” to think of what’s next for himself politically as “democracy is literally being attacked and torn out from under people’s feet.”

Others can’t help but think about it, however.

Leon Peace, a Silver Spring-based consultant who lingered after one of the Congressional Black Caucus events, said he told others Scott was a man to watch.

“This is what a real mayor looks like,” he said. “I see a future governor, and the White House is just down the road.”

Winning across Maryland requires a broader coalition than Scott may be able to attract, and he hasn’t been noticeably spending time in jurisdictions such as Montgomery and Prince George’s counties that would be needed to make such a run happen, Smith said.

Maryland’s 7th Congressional District, however, which Mfume represents, would make a lot of sense, argued Roger Hartley, dean of the University of Baltimore College of Public Affairs. If Mfume retires, a decision he’s made no public movement toward, the field would be crowded, Hartley said. Scott would make a top-tier candidate, particularly if Mfume signaled support, Hartley said.

Scott was emphatic that he would not run against an incumbent Mfume. (This week, Baltimore Councilman Mark Conway filed paperwork for such a bid.)

Scott and Mfume appeared together during the Congressional Black Caucus event. The congressman offered an introduction of the mayor ahead of a panel, calling him a “relentless advocate” and a “leader who lives the values that he talks about.”

After the session, the congressman said he believed the mayor came by his newfound attention honestly as he worked to elevate issues such as violence and the proliferation of weapons while national attention turned to the same topics.

“I really don’t think that he set out to do this, but I think it’s clearly happening,” Mfume said.

Asked if he could offer the mayor advice on next moves, however, Mfume was coy.

“I think the next step should be continue to be the best mayor Baltimore has seen in some time.”