Laurel voters reelected four of the city’s five councilmembers as well as a former council president in the general election Nov. 4.
Candidates for the single at-large seat were current Councilmember Christine Johnson and former Councilmember Brencis Smith. Johnson has served as the city’s at-large representative since 2023. Smith, who represented Ward 2 on the city council from 2019 to 2023 also served as council president from 2021 to 2023. Unofficial tallies posted Nov. 5 showed a margin of less than 3% between Johnson and Smith, which triggered a recount as mandated by the city charter. Smith was elected with 635 votes, while Johnson received 613.
In Ward 1, Adrian Simmons and James Kole retained their seats on the council with 540 and 469 votes, respectively. Sheila Carroll, sister of Councilmember Jeffrey Mills (Ward 2), informed The Laurel Independent in September that she had ended her candidacy; her name remained on the ballot, however, due to a filing deadline. Carroll then confirmed Nov. 2 that she had reentered the race. As of Nov. 5, however, the city’s Board of Elections Supervisors’ final vote tallies marked Carroll as “withdrawn.” Carroll received 181 votes.
In Ward 2, incumbent Councilmembers Mills and Kyla Clark, who is currently serving as council president, ran unopposed. They received 486 and 449 votes respectively. Seventeen write-in votes were cast for this seat, as well.
The results of the general election will be presented at a special meeting of the mayor and city council Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. at the Municipal Center, 8103 Sandy Spring Road.