New Carrollton Votes Again on November 9: Urbina and Dodro Run for Mayor a Week After Election Day, and the Ousted Mayor's Write-In Votes Will Not Count

Voters in New Carrollton get a double dose of civic engagement this month. Less than a week after Election Day on November 3, the Prince George's County city's roughly 13,000 residents head back to the polls on Monday, November 9, for a special election to pick a new mayor. The city's official notice puts voting from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the New Carrollton Municipal Center, 6016 Princess Garden Parkway, with the winner sworn in on November 18.

The race exists because the City Council voted 4-1 on September 9 to remove Mayor Phelecia Nembhard from office, under Charter Section C-20, over allegations that she violated a hiring freeze in place since October 2025 by reinstating two employees without council approval. Mayor Pro Tem Lincoln Lashley has been serving as mayor since the removal. The winner of the special election serves only the remainder of Nembhard's term, which ends in May 2027.

Two candidates are on the ballot. City Council member Briana Urbina, who sees the city's instability as evidence its government needs fundamental change, faces former Mayor Katrina Dodro, who lost the 2025 mayoral election to Nembhard and says she decided to run again after hearing from staff and residents that policies she had put in place were rolled back and staffing had declined. Both say they will run for a full term next year regardless of the special election's outcome.

Nembhard herself is urging supporters to write her name on their ballots - but the city's elections board chair told The Banner those votes will not count: her candidate package was rejected due to her removal from office. For New Carrollton voters, that makes November 9 a two-candidate decision about who steadies city hall for the next six months - and, given both candidates' stated plans, a first round in next year's full-term race as well.