William Parker’s bid to buck the AFSCME establishment and become president of newly minted Local 6368 failed in an election marked by extremely low turnover by Maryland Department of Transportation supervisors.

Out of about 470 eligible members, less than 8% voted. Rahim Abdullah got 26 votes, compared to Parker’s 11, according to results posted by the union.

“I was disappointed by the turnout,” Parker said yesterday.

In an earlier interview, he said the election was poorly publicized and without a committee to supervise voting, amounting to an effort by AFSCME Maryland Council 3 President Patrick Moran to control the results. Moran did not respond to the charges.

After The Brew posted the June 11 story, the local established an election committee and permitted Parker to contact members with campaign literature.

Abdullah said Council 3 never encouraged or promoted his candidacy, and said he was a victim of a “smear campaign” by his opponent.

Local 6368 was organized last year after the Maryland legislature extended collective bargaining rights to supervisors working at MDOT, including at the Maryland Transit Administration, State Highway Administration and Motor Vehicle Administration.

AFSCME Local 44, representing sanitation and other blue-collar Baltimore City workers, has been engulfed in controversy over Moran’s efforts to keep its elected president, Stancil McNair, from assuming power.

Moran installed Trevor Taylor, who twice lost the election to McNair, in charge of day-to-day operations, leaving McNair without an office at union headquarters on Bush Street.

For Background

• Allegations of unfair election practices surface at another AFSCME Council 3 local (6/11/26)

• With their elected president sidelined, Local 44 members demand answers from AFSCME (4/29/26)

• AFSCME Council 3 lost $1 million of membership funds in “phishing scam,” government documents reveal (9/26/25)

• How the takeover of a Baltimore union helped AFSCME Council 3 recover from its phishing losses (10/15/25)