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Democratic nominee for mayor Brandon Scott will start his general election television ad campaign during “Monday Night Football” as the Baltimore Ravens face the Kansas City Chiefs. Scott,
who emerged the victor among a crowded field of Democrats in the June primary, faces independent candidate Bob Wallace and Republican nominee Shannon Wright on the Nov. 3 ballot. Wallace was
the first to buy television advertising ahead of the general election when he ran spots during the Democratic National Convention in August. Scott’s first fall ad will run once during
“Monday Night Football” at a cost of $20,000, according to Federal Communication Commission records filed by WBAL-TV that describe the purchase. The ad emphasizes his youth, with the
36-year-old City Council president lacing up a pair of running shoes as a voice-over calls him “a tested son of our city” and part of a “new generation.” Scott is then shown running through
the streets of Baltimore wearing a Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School sweatshirt (he was on Mervo’s track team). The voice-over states “his childhood shaped by gun violence,
running track was Brandon Scott’s way up.” “Today, Brandon runs for a new way forward,” the ad continues. Dixon Davis Media produced the ad, said Marvin James, Scott’s campaign manager.
James declined to say how much was spent on the advertisement, but spots will be spread across television, social media and radio. The first showing of the ad comes as voters who have
requested mail-in ballots begin to receive them. Scott is the favorite to win the mayoral race in heavily Democratic Baltimore. He had $153,000 in his campaign bank account as of late
August, when campaign finance reports were last due. That’s less than the $360,000 Wallace had on hand at that point, the majority of which was contributed by Wallace and his wife. Scott was
elected to the council in 2011 and became president last year after Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young became mayor. Scott defeated Young in a primary field that also included former
Mayor Sheila Dixon. Originally Published: September 28, 2020 at 7:02 PM EDT