Edmonston

State Sen. David Harrington with Andrea Harrison, the likely Democratic nominee to fill his vacant PG County Council seatNew numbers just released by the Prince George's County Board of Elections show Andrea Fletcher Harrison (D-Springdale) with a lead of more than five percentage points over Mayor Adam Ortiz (D-Edmonston) in the race to fill the open District 5 seat on the Prince George's County Council.

Harrison's lead increased from 137 to 171 votes after absentee ballots were counted.

Only provisional and military/overseas ballots remain.

The board plans to certify the results next Friday, April 11.

Theresa Dudley (D-Kentland) has been a social studies teacher for 11 years. She has served on the board of directors of the teacher’s union for the past three years. Now, Dudley is seeking to fill the open District 5 position on the Prince George’s County Council, which she has unsuccessfully sought three times before.

“It feels different,” Dudley said about this election. “People are really looking at this race.”

Dudley will be one of seven Democrats competing in next Tuesday’s special primary election. Her opponents include Mayor Adam Ortiz of Edmonston, Adrion Howell, a Glenn Dale resident and former liaison to Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson, and Andrea Fletcher Harrison, the deputy chief of staff for the District 5 council office.

Mayor Adam Ortiz (D-Edmonston) is the only elected official seeking to fill the open District 5 seat on the Prince George’s County Council. With that line on his resume, the two-term Democratic mayor from Edmonston is running on his record against six Democratic opponents, as the April 1 primary election approaches.

“I think I have a record of proven experience of delivering for regular people,” Ortiz told PolitickerMD.com.

Elected in 2005, Ortiz said crime has dropped 24 percent in Edmonston since he became mayor. He also said he helped stem flooding issues in the city, saying his administration pumped $6 million into flood prevention methods.

The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 1199 United Healthcare Workers East, Maryland Division, has endorsed Mayor Adam Ortiz (D-Edmonston) in his bid to fill the open District 5 Prince George's County Council seat vacated by David Harrington, who replaced the deceased Sen. Gwendolyn Britt in the General Assembly.

The union also endorsed Donna Edwards (D-Fort Washington) in her successful Democratic primary campaign in Maryland’s Fourth Congressional District.

“Like Donna Edwards, Adam Ortiz is a new kind of leader in Prince George’s County,” John Reid, Executive Vice President of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Maryland Division, said in a statement. “By putting people before politics, Adam Ortiz will be a fresh voice and a force for change on the county council.”