Two people stood in opposition to Mary Pat Clarke in Tuesday's primary election, both of whom posed little threat to the incumbent Democratic councilwoman. As of Wednesday, according to the Baltimore City Board of Elections, Clarke held 95 percent of the vote in the 14th district, which includes both the University and the Charles Village neighborhood.
Even though she is largely unpopular in the Hopkins community, her opponents have done nothing to secure the student vote. But students themselves have taken little initiative to voice their opposition at the polls.
"It is difficult to get students to vote: most undergraduates are registered in their home districts, not in Baltimore. Also, traditionally, voters aged 18-25 have a low turnout at the polls," said Matthew Crenson, Professor Emeritus in the Political Science department.
Clarke gained notoriety among the Hopkins student body after testifying against the Phi Psi fraternity during last year's zoning battle. Although some students lament her incumbency in the 14th district, few candidates have opposed her.
"Given the challenging academic environment at Hopkins and most of the undergraduates' transient relationship with Baltimore, I wouldn't expect local politics to be a top priority among the Hopkins student body," John Spurrier, vice-president of the Charles Village Civic Association (CVCA), said.
However low voter turnout is a phenomenon not unique to students. According to the Board of Elections, only 28 percent of registered Baltimore voters participated in the Tuesday elections.
"People think they don't have the choices to make change," Curt Anderson, a district 43 member of the Maryland House of Delegates, which covers Baltimore's 14th district, said. "I thought people would show up today, but they didn't."
Though Clarke may have received the majority of the vote, in a district of 48,000 residents, only 5,962 actually voted for her. Given this number, which is not much greater than the number of undergrads, the student body seems to be a potentially powerful electoral force.
But even if every Hopkins student turned out to vote, it is unlikely Clarke would fail to be reelected. "She is a political institution in Baltimore," Crenson said.
Having been in politics for nearly 40 years, she has established a strong and broad support base throughout the city, enough so to attempt a mayoral run in 1995.
"She is well known for her strong constituent services. At the same time, she does not seek to impose her own interests on the community," Dana Petersen Moore, president of the CVCA, said.
Moore elaborated that Clarke's opponents are virtually unknowns and can scarcely compete with her well-established track record in the community.
"None have her years of experience, her strong record of good community service nor her know-how when it comes to connecting with the very diverse group of people who vote for her," she said.
Such factors stand as hindrances to successful campaigns against an incumbent with such political and electoral clout.
"There are structural constraints - the money needed to run looms large here - that lead to individuals being very risk averse, only running against an incumbent when they feel they have a strong chance of winning," Lester Spence, assistant professor in the department of Political Science, said.
More than legislating, Clarke has been particularly successful in lobbying city government agencies in response to the concerns and interests of her constituency. Even if they do not control the budgets (designed and controlled by the Board of Estimates), the city council finds its greatest strength in representing the interests of its constituents during agency appropriations.
"One of the main reasons that individuals support Mary Pat Clarke is because of her reputation for doing an excellent job of advocating for her constituents," Spurrier said.
The seasoned politician is well-known to take bold moves in response to the complaints of her constituents. Her night spent living in a decomposing public housing unit, for example, was widely publicized and brought attention to the living conditions of Baltimore's destitute.
Her loyalty to the community, however, has often been seen at odds with the interests of Hopkins students.
"There has been a long-standing tension between the community and fraternities. As expected, last spring, she sided with the community, her constituent base," Crenson said.
Crenson, the faculty advisor to Phi Kappa Psi, met with Clarke last year in an unsuccessful effort to persuade her to reconsider her testimony against the fraternity. Phi Psi eventually lost their appeal to continue use of their house at 3906 Canterbury Road.
Clarke was a key factor in securing a letter from city council president Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who took time off from her campaign trail to voice support of neighborhood residents against the fraternity.
Still Clarke indicated that she includes higher education among her goals if re-elected.
"My principal goal for education in Baltimore City is to ensure that every public school is staffed and funded to prepare its students for the Hopkins scholarships which have broken historic grounds across the nation, in affording public school children the chance to attend the University tuition-free," she said.
Over the past three decades, Clarke has served as the vice-Chair of the Education, Housing, Health and Human Services Committee as well as a member of the Budget and Appropriations Committee. She was instrumental in the election of many African Americans to the city council during the 1970s. Working with Kweisi Mfume, the president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), helped instigate a citywide mandate to decrease classroom sizes in the 1980s.
