A ‘dynamic’ challenger to a five-term incumbent: Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s race shaping up
Jean Marbella
The Baltimore Sun
March 26, 2025
The incumbent Baltimore County State’s Attorney joined the office as a prosecutor after passing the bar in 1985. The woman who would unseat him was born that year.
Sarah David, 39, a well-connected attorney who launches her campaign on Wednesday, is posing a strong challenge to Scott Shellenberger, 66, who is seeking a sixth term.
The race is shaping up as one to watch in 2026, with its potential for a generational change in the county’s top prosecutor post. David, currently the number two official in the Office of the Maryland State Prosecutor, which investigates public officials and employees and election law violations, has already raised more than $100,000 and drawn some high-profile support with her message of bringing a fresh approach to an office that Shellenberger was first elected to in 2006.
David, a Pikesville High School and Johns Hopkins University graduate, said she first became interested in running for State’s Attorney four years ago, when the talk in the county was that Shellenberger was considering winding down his long career in the office he first joined as a law clerk in 1982.
He didn’t, though, and on Tuesday said he always intended to run again in 2026. But David decided to run for the office anyway.
“When there’s an opportunity for the county to see progress and enhance safety,” she said, “there’s no need to wait.”
In an interview in her Towson home on Tuesday, David described her vision for modernizing the office by making it more data-driven, responsive to different parts of the community, and proactive in preventing and not only prosecuting crime.
David served in the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office for a couple of years, leaving in 2016 in an apparent disagreement with then-State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby over the prosecution of the officers involved in the death of Freddie Gray.
David said she is limited in what she can say about the prosecution and her ultimate departure, but noted, “No matter how far you are into a case, if you, as a prosecutor, don’t believe the case is sustainable, it’s your responsibility to bring that up.
“It was a really interesting, difficult but formative experience for me,” she said, filled with lessons on how to evaluate cases” and make “the hard decision.”
‘Right person at the right time’
David’s message and wide-ranging background, which has taken her to Belfast for a master’s degree and New York City, where she worked in counterterrorism for the New York City Police Department, have attracted some prominent support. Among them is Donald Mohler, the former Baltimore County executive and well-entrenched political figure in the county, and a longtime friend and supporter of Shellenberger.
“I was extremely impressed with her vision for modernizing the office and her background in criminal justice,” he said. “She has a deep resume.”
Mohler said David is “the right person at the right time” to elevate the office.
“I consider Scott Shellenberger a friend of mine. I think [he] has been a very good State’s Attorney,” he said. “But as with all things, there comes a time to turn the page.”
Shellenberger was reached Tuesday in Annapolis, where he was waiting to speak against the “Second Look” bill under consideration in the Senate, which would allow those incarcerated for 20 or more years to petition a judge to reduce their sentences. It’s the kind of bill Shellenberger, who prides himself on being tough on crime, has long fought in the General Assembly.
He said that when it comes to violent crime, he believes being tough is the only approach. Shellenberger said he can and has been more willing “to be more reasonable,” such as considering diversionary measures, when it comes to lesser crimes.
Shellenberger, who nearly lost the 2022 primary to an outspokenly progressive candidate, Robbie Leonard, said he is taking David’s run “seriously.”
“I would like to keep running a very effective office and continue to keep the citizens of Baltimore County safe,” he said. “I find it to be the best job in the world. You get to get up every day and do the right thing.”
‘A terrific trial lawyer’
Attorney Leonard Shapiro has supported Shellenberger from the start. They go way back: He was a prosecutor in the office when Shellenberger, still in law school, was hired as a law clerk in 1982. Shellenberger became a prosecutor in the office in 1985, and by then, Shapiro was in private practice and sometimes went head-to-head against his former clerk in cases.
Shellenberger left the State’s Attorney’s Office in 1993, representing asbestos victims as part of Peter Angelos’ law firm, before being elected in 2006 as the county’s top prosecutor.
“He was a terrific trial lawyer,” the criminal defense lawyer said, who then went on to run a “top quality” office.
“I deal with all the State’s Attorney’s offices, and his has been the best or one of the best forever,” Shapiro said.
As part of her Wednesday launch, David will have a fundraising event at the Rec Room in Towson. Shellenberger said he plans to launch his campaign after the end of the General Assembly session next month.
They will present quite a contrast on the campaign trail.
David, who is frequently described as “dynamic,” is a Volvo-driving, book-club-attending, soccer mom. She and her husband, Glenn A. Gordon, a principal at Miles & Stockbridge law firm in Baltimore, have an 8-year-old son and a 4-year-old daughter.
Shellenberger boasts what his official bio calls “a great middle class life,” growing up the son of a small business owner and putting himself through college by working at K-Mart. By contrast, he “doesn’t light up the room at a party,” said Shapiro. “He’s more a nose to the grindstone type of guy.”
The race is already generating interest, with both candidates well-known in various political, community and legal circles.
Ian Anson, an associate professor of political science at the University of Baltimore County, said that while the county remains majority Democratic, it is “purple-ish.” In 2024, for example, a sizable group voted for the Democrat Kamala Harris for president but the Republican Larry Hogan for U.S. senator.
While both David and Shellenberger are Democrats, the latter is considered more on the conservative end of the spectrum. Anson said the election will be interesting to watch given the swirl of political winds these days. At a time when change candidates have had success, the county has a history of sticking with officeholders for multiple terms, he said.
“What is the turnout going to be? Are we going to see a reaction to a new [presidential] administration?” Anson said. “Those are open questions.”