Former Mayor Sheila Dixon insists she’s not a sore loser. But during an appearance on WYPR’s Midday Tuesday, she repeated her charge that questions still linger about the integrity of the results of the primary election she lost in April.

“This is the first time in the history that the state of Maryland that an election was decertified [because] there were questions for 71 precincts,” she said.  “There were provisional ballots that were thrown out, judges allowed independent voters to vote during the primary and unfortunately those were thrown out.”

And that’s why she’s running as a write in candidate for mayor.

Dixon accused state elections officials of “[throwing] up their hands” instead of investigating claims of improprieties on Election Day in the city “because it was such a total mess.”

She was appearing with Republican nominee Alan Walden and Green Party candidate Joshua Harris.

State Senator Catherine Pugh, the Democratic nominee, had agreed to appear on the show seven weeks ago, but backed out last Friday.  Her campaign spokesman, Gary Brown, informed host Tom Hall that she would not appear without giving a reason.

Walden, a long time broadcast veteran, sharply criticized Pugh for reneging on her agreement.

“Her unwillingness to appear on this program and her unwillingness to appear on other programs with other anchors on other stations smacks of the worst kind of political arrogance,” he said.

This is not the first time Pugh backed out of an appearance on WYPR.

She cancelled two days before a scheduled appearance on Maryland Morning during the primary season in April, but showed up while the program was on the air.