Sarah David led 19-year incumbent Scott Shellenberger on Tuesday night in the race to become the Democratic nominee for Baltimore County state’s attorney.
David, 41, a deputy state prosecutor, ran on a platform aimed at modernizing the office that Shellenberger has run since the George W. Bush administration.
“Together we have outraised a 20-year incumbent,” David said late Tuesday. “We have knocked on over 13,000 doors. We’ve raised important issues related to data, domestic violence and promoted a vision of a safer Baltimore County that we can build together.”
Inside Barley’s Backyard in Towson, David’s supporters, family and friends celebrated her lead over Shellenberger with balloons, drinks — courtesy of vouchers provided by the campaign — and a cake with David’s signature slogan: “Safer with Sarah.”
While neither David nor her campaign declared victory, she had an overwhelming lead over Shellenberger, who watched the returns from his couch at home in Towson. Shellenberger, a 67-year-old law-and-order Democrat, declined to comment.
Lauren Lipscomb, head of Baltimore City’s Conviction Integrity Unit, trailed both David and Shellenberger. The self-described moderate Democrat also criticized Shellenberger for not bringing the state’s attorney’s office into the 21st century.
Under Shellenberger, the office doesn’t have its own website to share information; it has only boilerplate language on the county government’s website explaining how the office functions, unlike the city state’s attorney’s office and the Maryland state prosecutor’s office.
Lipscomb, 50, who fashioned herself as a balance between what she called David’s progressive policies and Shellenberger’s outdated ones, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
David’s bet
David, whom Gov. Wes Moore endorsed, kicked off her campaign last year by telling Baltimore County voters that she would make the state’s attorney’s office more accessible.
Her goals are to expand community outreach, develop more services for victims and witnesses, and publish data about juvenile crime — something Shellenberger’s office did not do.
During a debate between all three candidates hosted by The Banner and WJZ-TV last month, juvenile crime was a hot-button issue.
David said that publishing juvenile crime data would help inform public perceptions and provide context while also serving as a guide to where to allocate resources.
During the debate, she also criticized Shellenberger for the way his office has handled sexual assault evidence, victims and perpetrators.
David criticized Shellenberger for not advocating for survivors, especially those whose decades-old DNA was collected by former GBMC physician Rudiger Breitenecker.
“Here in Baltimore County, those kits were being destroyed early, they were not being tested, and our state’s attorney failed to lead and make sure they were,” David said.
David has held several public-service jobs. Before law school, she worked for the New York City Police Department. She later was a prosecutor in Baltimore City and spent a year as chief of staff to former state Sen. Bobby Zirkin.
If David is the nominee, running the state’s attorney’s office will be the biggest and most public-facing role of her career.
Ousting Shellenberger
Since 2023, David’s campaign has raised nearly half a million dollars — outraising Shellenberger 3-to-1 and Lipscomb by hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to campaign finance records.
The Banner previously reported that David also had help from the Working Families Party, the Brooklyn-based progressive group that helped get Zohran Mamdani elected mayor of New York.
Delvone Michael, a senior political strategist for the Working Families Party, sent an email at 10:19 p.m. declaring David’s win.
“Sarah David’s overwhelming victory clearly shows that Baltimore County is ready for a different kind of State’s Attorney who will take public safety seriously while modernizing the office and how it serves the community,” he wrote.
The national organization’s political action committee spent over $737,373 in recent months on mailers and commercials supporting David, often calling attention to Shellenberger’s record on immigration.
One flyer warned prospective voters in all caps: “When State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger works with ICE, he puts us all at risk.”
Shellenberger acknowledged that he worked with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on cases involving the conviction of child sex offenders.
The Working Families Party previously partnered with two other liberal PACs to spend $847,996 backing Robbie Leonard, a progressive prosecutor who challenged Shellenberger in the 2022 Democratic primary.
Leonard lost that race by 2.4 percentage points. Over the past two election cycles, outside PACs have spent a combined $1.6 million to oust Shellenberger.
Local issues
Despite contributions from deep national pockets, the race has routinely revolved around juvenile crime, sexual assault and the modernization of the office.
Robert Cephas said he cast his vote for David because he appreciated her record as a prosecutor.
Cephas, a 55-year-old Democrat and educator who voted at Timonium’s Pot Spring Elementary School, said he had thoroughly researched the candidates and saw it as his civic duty not only to vote but also to study each one.
“I want to make sure my voice is heard,” he said. “I want to make sure I’m part of change.”
Outside Catonsville Middle School earlier Tuesday evening, Shellenberger said he was feeling “good” as he waved at passing cars and held a campaign sign that described him as “tough on crime.” Some drivers responded with a thumbs-up.
Another county resident, Linnea Johnson, said she voted for David because the candidate was aligned with her on key issues and had momentum.
If David wins, she will be the county’s de facto state’s attorney — there are no Republicans registered to run in November’s general election.
Banner reporters Julie Scharper, Sapna Bansil and Rona Kobell contributed to this story.
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