:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/baltimorebanner/F2PWG36O2VCSJEALEE3E6IPHGE.jpg)
As he seeks a fifth term in office, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger on Tuesday held a wide lead over his first challenger in the general election in 12 years, Jim Haynes.
With all 243 precincts reporting, Shellenberger, 63, of Towson, a Democrat, earned 117,265 votes (59.63%), while Haynes, 72, of Towson, a Republican, received 78,912 votes (40.13%), according to unofficial election results from the Maryland State Board of Elections.
Canvassers will start counting the remaining 49,375 mailed ballots on Thursday.
”I want to wait until everything’s done, but I’m very pleased with the numbers so far,” Shellenberger said on Tuesday night. “And I hope they just continue the way they have been trending.”
Election results for Baltimore County state's attorney
On Election Day, Shellenberger said, he spent the morning at Stoneleigh Elementary and then the afternoon and early evening at Seven Oaks Elementary. He said he received a good reaction at the polls.
On the other hand, Haynes said he called Shellenberger at about 10:30 p.m. and wished him the best, adding that both of them want a safer Baltimore County and for crime to go down.
Haynes said he believed that both campaigns were civil and focused on the issues. That’s important in this day and age, he said.
Running for office, Haynes said, affirmed his faith in his neighbors as well as the electorate. He said he feels that the voters were fair and listened.
“I think this election has proved this is a good country, at least in my small experience here in Baltimore County, which is just a pinpoint on a map of the United States,” Haynes said. “It’s worth mentioning that you can come out of a campaign and say, ‘By and large, I think I saw the best rather than the media-fueled worst of this country and my neighbors.’”
Shellenberger first took office in 2007. He faced the most sustained criticism of his career during this year’s campaign.
See Baltimore County election results
In the Democratic primary on July 19, Shellenberger narrowly defeated Robbie Leonard, a former assistant public defender, with a margin of 2.4 percentage points — or 2,115 votes. Leonard pushed for a more progressive approach toward criminal justice and panned the office’s handling of low-level crimes, sex offenses and allegations of police misconduct.
Meanwhile, Haynes, a retired federal appellate administrative judge who previously served as a Maryland assistant attorney general, criticized Shellenberger for not doing enough to address violent crime.
Haynes vowed to hire ethics counsel and neither solicit campaign donations from employees nor ask them to work the polls.
He also brought up a lawsuit in which a woman asserted that police and prosecutors violated her constitutional rights after she reported that three baseball players from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, sexually assaulted her. Shellenberger’s office asked police to request that she not file charges after prosecutors declined to take up the case.
Baltimore County and the state of Maryland later agreed to each pay half of a $100,000 settlement.
Shellenberger highlighted his experience and described the position as not one to learn on the job. He said he’s constantly making changes, noting that he hires new assistant state’s attorneys and speaks with other elected officials through his involvement in the Maryland State’s Attorneys’ Association.
He said he realized that he needs to better publicize some of the reforms that he’s implemented.
The Baltimore County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4 and Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. endorsed Shellenberger.
“From our perspective, we see the state’s attorney as a law-and-order candidate,” said David Folderauer, president of the Baltimore County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4, in a previous interview. “And obviously, that is the oath that we have taken. We’re the law and order portion of the criminal justice system.”
Before taking office, Shellenberger worked at the Law Offices of Peter G. Angelos from 1993-2006. He was a law clerk from 1982-1985 in the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s Office, and then an assistant state’s attorney from 1985-1993.
Shellenberger earned his bachelor’s degree in political science in 1981 from Loyola College. He received his Juris Doctor in 1984 from the University of Baltimore School of Law.
Although Shellenberger experienced a bruising primary, Haynes faced a number of challenges in the race.
In Baltimore County, registered Democratic voters outnumber registered Republican voters by a more than 2-to-1 margin. Shellenberger reported contributions totally more than $195,000 in 2022, compared to about $6,300 for Haynes, according to campaign finance disclosure reports.
The state’s attorney is elected to four-year terms. The position pays $216,749.
dylan.segelbaum@thebaltimorebanner.com
:quality(70)/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/baltimorebanner/590ca0a2-d048-4478-8073-9c2274dc4dcb.png)
Dylan Segelbaum is the courts reporter at The Baltimore Banner.
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/baltimorebanner/TBZL5637TBERBJ7OFK4HA554UI.png)
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/baltimorebanner/GTCCVJZJVNETVJQAABDIYOSCW4.JPG)
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/baltimorebanner/C5RNK4UYEZHJ5KRAE5TAXBVZEM.jpg)
:format(jpg)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/baltimorebanner/SAIF3W6YERGZFPARMH64PQNMEM.jpg)