Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson enters Baltimore mayoral race

Just minutes before the deadline Wednesday, civil rights activist DeRay Mckesson filed the necessary paperwork to enter the Baltimore mayoral race.

Mckesson, a Baltimore native, came to prominence as a Black Lives Matter activist in Ferguson, Missouri. He is also part of Campaign Zero, which aims to end police killings in the United States. A former public school administrator in both Baltimore and Minnesota, Mckesson told The Baltimore Sun he believes "Baltimore is a city of promise and possibility. We can't rely on traditional pathways to politics and the traditional politicians who walk those paths if we want transformational change."

McKesson said he will release his platform within the next week, and it will include calling for internal school system audits to be made public. Baltimore's current mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, decided not to seek re-election. Mckesson is the 13th candidate to enter the primary race. For years, the winner of the Democratic primary has gone on to win the general election, The Baltimore Sun says.

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