BALTIMORE — Baltimore City Councilman Mark Conway announced Wednesday that he will run for Congress against incumbent Democratic Rep. Kweisi Mfume in Maryland’s 7th district.

Though he represents District 4 in northern Baltimore near the county line, Conway chose to launch his campaign from Penn North — the West Baltimore neighborhood that saw three mass overdoses this year.

“In recent days, we’ve watched this community reel again from another mass overdose, and like so many times before, the cycle repeats. Reporters come, officials arrive, promises are made, and then we move until it happens again,” Conway said during his campaign launch Wednesday morning. “I refuse to accept that this is normal because I cannot look at what is happening in our city and pretend that it’s unavoidable or inevitable.”

When asked Wednesday about Conway’s challenge, Mfume told The Baltimore Sun: “I am running for reelection and with God’s blessings I intend to win. I am a fighter for people, and this is one more fight to win,” which he said after it was announced the councilman was seriously intending to run.

‘No one comes here’

Conway’s campaign announcement was between the CVS and Penn North station. A podium with a green sign reading “MARK CONWAY FOR CONGRESS” and the presence of press cameras drew a small crowd of residents — some curious about the commotion, others frustrated by the sudden presence of outsiders.

“No one comes down here unless they’re putting up yellow tape,” one longtime resident told The Sun, while waiting for the councilman to arrive.

More than a dozen people gathered throughout the councilman’s remarks. While many nodded along silently during the announcement, the question-and-answer portion was derailed by residents voicing their frustrations with the Trump administration and what they described as local leaders’ neglect of their community. A handful asked Conway what specific changes he could deliver, why he should be the one trusted to represent them and why he believes he’s fit for the role.

“I’m out here in part because I need to talk to you. You and the issues that you see here in Penn-North are exactly the things that we need to address,” Conway said, as he tried to manage interruptions during the latter portion of his announcement. “I would expect that should I earn your vote, you have the ability to meet with me — talk on the phone, you come down to D.C., or I’ll come here — and we’d be able to have a relationship that I can always make sure I’m addressing the issues that are important to you.”

Leading up to the run

As chairman of the council’s Public Safety Committee, Conway pushed for months to hold public hearings on the epidemic. His efforts put him at odds with Mayor Brandon Scott, who argued hearings could jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars in damages the city sought to win from opioid distributors.

So far, the result of these hearings has called the city’s plan to address what Conway calls “open air drug markets” like Penn North into question. At a Sept. 9 hearing, for example, Conway said joint efforts by the Baltimore Police Department, Baltimore City Health Department, and Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement to establish a cohesive effort to reduce overdoses have “not met my standard.”

“I’m finding myself limited. I’m realizing more and more every day that the decisions made in Washington have profound impacts on the ability for our city to meet this challenge, to meet the needs of housing … to meet the public safety needs or public health needs,” Conway said. “We need real partnership out of Washington, DC, and we need real leadership out of Washington, DC.”

Conway and Scott have also clashed over funding for the Baltimore Children and Youth Fund, a private nonprofit legally required to receive property tax revenues.

In June, Conway was one of two council members to oppose Scott’s fiscal 2026 budget over its plan to use $7 million from BCYF to continue funding youth programs through the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development. He argued this funding structure was at odds with the Baltimore City Charter and sponsored an amendment to restore the $7 million for vacant positions if BCYF agreed to discuss funds with the council and provide documentation of its payment to Scott’s office.

Conway, 36, would represent a new generation of Democratic leadership compared to Mfume, who turns 77 this month and is in his seventh full House term since first winning election in 1986. Mfume first served in Congress from 1987 to 1995 and led the NAACP for nearly nine years before returning to Congress in 2020 to replace the late Rep. Elijah Cummings.

Mfume, a staunch opponent of President Donald Trump and ally to Scott, referred to the mayor as “my political godson” at a July news conference on violent crime in Baltimore.

Conway told The Baltimore Sun Wednesday that he has an “immense amount of respect” for Mfume, but recognizes that there’s a need for change.

“We need new ideas. We need new leadership. We need energy and invigoration to reignite the base of our party,” he said. “We need to be speaking to the people just like this in places like Penn and North about what they want — talk about what’s going on in their day-to-day lives, and making sure that those policies come out in Congress.”

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