Hogan endorses Vignarajah in city state’s attorney race
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan has endorsed Thiru Vignarajah in the Democratic primary for Baltimore State’s Attorney.
Democrat Marilyn Mosby, a frequent target of Hogan’s criticism, now holds the job.
The endorsement is the first time Hogan has formally backed a Democratic candidate, and the first time the two-term governor has weighed in on a Democratic primary, according to Vignarajah’s campaign and Hogan’s office.
Hogan cited Baltimore’s persistent violent crime in backing Vignarajah. Homicides and shootings in the city are outpacing last year, which was the seventh consecutive year with at least 300 slayings.
“For far too long violent criminals have been allowed to terrorize the streets of Baltimore with impunity,” Hogan said in a statement included in an announcement from Vignarajah’s campaign. “Every single day, the people of Baltimore pay a steep price for that failure with lost loved ones, terrified families and countless lost potential. This crisis rises above partisan politics. It’s not about right or left. It’s about right and wrong.”
Hogan described Vignarajah, a former city, state and federal prosecutor, as the candidate with the experience to “restore trust, hold violent criminals accountable and make our street’s safer.”
His endorsement comes after Vignarajah publicly backed a series of crime bills Hogan brought to the legislature. Hogan’s political lobbying group, the Change Maryland Action Fund, ran digital advertisements touting Vignarajah’s support for Hogan’s legislation.
Hogan’s endorsement adds to a primary race that could be defined by the federal indictment of Mosby. The two-term Democrat hasn’t officially entered the race to retain her seat, but she has until April 15 to file official papers.
Mosby has said she’s innocent on the two counts of perjury and two counts of making false statements on loan applications to buy a pair of properties in Florida. Her campaign did not respond Thursday to a request for comment.
Mosby and Hogan have sparred publicly over crime in Baltimore and her record as the city’s elected prosecutor. The governor has often described Mosby as lenient on violent criminals, while Mosby has accused Hogan of “incessant dog-whistling attacks about Baltimore crime.”
Hogan’s support for Vignarajah may galvanize Mosby’s supporters to rally around her given their quarrels, while Democratic voters may be turned off by a Republican-endorsed candidate, said Roger Hartley, dean of the University of Baltimore’s School of Public Affairs. But the governor counts as bipartisan support and the issue of crime transcends party lines, meaning Hogan’s backing could be a boon for Vignarajah, he said.
“Some political scientists say endorsements don’t matter but unusual ones may. And this is an unusual one for this time,” said Hartley, referring to intense partisanship in politics.
Hogan is a popular governor, even in Maryland, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2-to-1, but Baltimore voters cast 67% of their ballots for his Democratic opponent Ben Jealous in the 2018 gubernatorial election compared with 32% for Hogan.
Vignarajah is a latecomer to the state’s attorney’s race. He announced his candidacy on March 22, after attorney Roya Hanna dropped out of the Democratic primary to run as an independent in the general election. Hanna is still listed as a Democratic candidate on the State Board of Elections website. Defense attorney Ivan Bates also is running as a Democrat for state’s attorney, setting up the potential for a rerun of the 2018 Democratic primary. In that race, Mosby won comfortably with Bates and Vignarajah splitting the rest of the vote.
Bates outraised Mosby and Hanna in the year leading up to the primary election, now set for July 19.
The state’s attorney’s race will be Vignarajah’s third campaign for citywide office in a five-year span. He also ran for mayor in 2020, coming in fourth in a crowded field.
Vignarajah said in a statement Thursday that he was grateful for Hogan’s endorsement and that the issue of public safety was more important than politics.
“Fighting violent crime is supposed to be the job of local leaders. For eight years, the governor has done his best to support the city in its battle against violent crime,” Vignarajah said. “But Gov. Hogan knows that without leadership at the local level this fight is infinitely harder than it needs to be.”