Dorsey renews push to repeal Baltimore City term limits

Baltimore voters already approved term limits by a wide margin, but Councilman Ryan Dorsey is moving to unwind them, reopening a fight over whether City Hall should honor a clear public vote or send the issue back through the charter process.

Question K passed on November 8, 2022, with 98,529 votes, or 71.33%, in favor and 39,604, or 28.67%, opposed. The charter amendment set limits for the mayor, comptroller, City Council president and City Council members, barring them from serving more than eight years in any 12-year period. It also took effect for officials elected in the 2024 Baltimore City election.

Now Dorsey, a third-term lawmaker, is renewing the repeal push. Baltimore Brew reported that he planned to introduce bill 26-0199 on May 11, 2026, a charter amendment that would erase the term limits voters approved four years ago. The change would affect the mayor, comptroller, City Council president and the 14 council members, restoring the possibility of longer service for officeholders who benefit directly from the reversal.

Dorsey’s argument centers on how the original measure reached the ballot. Earlier coverage in 2022 showed him seeking to send the issue back to voters in 2024, after the city had just held a public referendum on the question. That timing made the push politically fraught then, and it carries the same tension now: whether elected officials should reopen a matter already settled by voters.

Baltimore’s current charter is explicit. The mayor may not serve more than two consecutive full terms and, in any event, may not hold the office for more than eight years in any 12-year period. The charter text says that language was added by Initiative Question K, ratified on November 8, 2022.

The city’s Charter Review Special Committee, which Dorsey chairs, is supposed to gather resident input and identify structural, equity, transparency and accountability issues for possible 2026 ballot amendments. Its members include John Bullock, Odette Ramos, Jermaine Jones and Zach Blanchard. That gives Dorsey a platform to steer the charter debate even as he pushes a proposal that would benefit current and future citywide elected officials.

The repeal effort has already drawn criticism before. The Maryland Public Policy Institute said Dorsey was disregarding the will of voters when he pursued repeal in earlier coverage. The original term-limit campaign itself had been a major example of direct democracy in Baltimore, with supporters gathering enough signatures to put the measure before voters and clearing the threshold needed for certification.