Baltimore County SAO election: Sarah David leads fundraising, helped by lawyers

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Sarah David has established a commanding fundraising advantage in the race for Baltimore County state’s attorney, driven in large part by the local legal establishment.

Currently Maryland’s deputy state prosecutor, David has raised many times more money than 20-year incumbent Scott Shellenberger and fellow Democratic primary challenger Lauren Lipscomb, who leads the conviction integrity unit in the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office.

David’s campaign finance reports list many of the area’s most prominent attorneys and law firms, including the CEO of Miles & Stockbridge, a former Baltimore City state’s attorney, law professors and the head of the Maryland Legal Services Corporation.

“I’m really proud of the support I have in the legal community,” David said in an interview. “I think it’s a testament to the fact that over my career and as a part of the community, I have worked with so many of these incredible lawyers who do this important work, and they trust my ability to lead because they’ve seen it.”

David’s campaign treasurer, Lydia Lawless, is Maryland’s former bar counsel and now a principal at Kramon & Graham; her campaign chair, Liz Stieff, is a partner at Venable LLP; her husband, Glenn Gordon, is a principal at Miles & Stockbridge. Several law firms have made direct contributions to her campaign. The Daily Record reached out to about a dozen lawyers and firms that contributed; many declined to comment or did not respond.

From Jan. 9, 2025, to Jan. 14 of this year, David outraised and outspent both of her competitors and ended up with far more in the bank.

She raised more than $202,000, more than five times what Shellenberger raised and more than 14 times what Lipscomb received. And overall, David had $234,659 on hand at the end of that period, far more than Shellenberger’s $55,195 and Lipscomb’s $4,148, allowing her to spend much more freely in the home stretch of the primary campaign.

The primary’s Election Day is June 23, and early voting is June 11 to 18.

Differing visions

In her current role, David is the No. 2 in a small state office that primarily prosecutes misconduct by public officials statewide. She’s running on modernizing the state’s attorney’s use of technology and data, taking sexual assault cases “seriously” and communicating more effectively with the public. She aims to reform an office that she says has suffered from a “lack of leadership” under Shellenberger.

(The Daily Record last year named her one of Maryland’s Leaders in the Law, a group that then voted her as the Top Leader in Law. Reporters are not involved in the nomination and selection process.)

Shellenberger, a tough-on-crime Democrat who narrowly defeated a progressive challenger in the 2022 primary, says a significant decline in violent crime justifies another term.

“I think I run a very good office, a very professional office. I run it in a professional way, and I want to continue to do that for four more years,” Shellenberger told The Daily Record.

“We are working very hard at keeping people safe, and the fact that I’ve won five elections and the fact that we’re keeping people safe, I think, goes a long way toward my election for a sixth term.”

Noting that only two people have held the job since 1975, when Republican Sandra Ann O’Connor took office, David said, “My vision for the state’s attorney’s office for Baltimore County is very different from the way it has been.”

Shifting support among lawyers

Shellenberger has also gained support from lawyers, though he has fewer donors — especially from “Big Law” firms — and fewer large donations.

Attorneys at Angelos Legal Services, the Law Offices of Peter Angelos (where he used to work) and Saiontz & Kirk, as well as many solo practitioners, are among his contributors. The Towson firm Pessin Katz last year gave David $1,000, but Drake Zaharris, the firm’s managing director, gave $1,500 to Shellenberger. The local Fraternal Order of Police also gave $2,000.

But many of Shellenberger’s former supporters in the legal field have decided to throw their weight behind David.

One of them is Michael Smith, whose father, former Baltimore County Executive James Smith Jr., was key to getting Shellenberger elected in 2006. The elder Smith used a political slate to give Shellenberger more than $400,000. Michael Smith referred to David as an “exceptionally strong prosecutor” who can rebuild the office’s staff after an exodus in recent years under Shellenberger.

Michael Smith contributed $1,000 to David’s campaign through his law firm, Smith, Gildea & Schmidt, based in Towson.

“Every lawyer I speak with who regularly works with the state’s attorney’s office recognizes the same need for renewed leadership at this moment,” Smith told The Daily Record. “Scott Shellenberger has served Baltimore County well and deserves credit for that, but after nearly two decades, it’s the right time for a transition to ensure the county continues its strong record on public safety.”

Another former Shellenberger supporter is Brian Thompson, of Silverman, Thompson, Slutkin & White. He said Shellenberger is a “good man” who has done an “effective job” for most of his career but said the attrition of experienced prosecutors in recent years has hurt the office. Thompson contributed $4,000 last year; his firm also gave $1,000 in January 2025.

“The citizens of Baltimore County deserve a State’s Attorney who will do the necessary work to support and retain these experienced prosecutors who are responsible for prosecuting the most violent offenders to keep the community safe,” Thompson wrote in an email. “It’s time for a generational change in that office to a leader who will passionately do that work. I firmly believe that Sarah is that leader.”

Former Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg Bernstein, now a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder, has also contributed to her campaign. Bernstein hired David as an assistant state’s attorney early in her career and said he was “extremely impressed” when he met her. He gave her campaign $2,000 in January 2025.

“I think it is time for a change,” Bernstein told The Daily Record. “I think it’s time for a fresh start. I think she brings new and fresh ideas to how the office is going to be run and managed.”

Ferrier Stillman, a partner at Tydings & Rosenberg, said she met David during the 2022 Democratic primary election, when they were involved in a Democratic campaign for governor. Stillman has given her more than $2,200.

“There has been a lot of turnover in (Shellenberger’s) office,” Stillman said. “I think that the record of the incumbent on prosecuting sexual assault cases is very disappointing.”

In 2018, a rape victim sued Shellenberger, alleging he sent a police officer to her home who threatened to arrest her if she pressed charges. The incumbent was also accused of refusing to investigate rape accusations and file charges. Shellenberger said it can be difficult to secure convictions, in part because jurors can be “very judgmental.”

“Most of the cases that we have trouble with are people that know each other, and they are very difficult cases,” he said. “I believe we do a very good job of handling those cases and we’re always trying those cases.”

Shellenberger acknowledged that his office saw high staff turnover in recent years. He said many prosecutors in their 30s took jobs with the federal government, which paid significantly more; he said he made the same move early in his career.

Even with more money, it won’t be easy to defeat an incumbent prosecutor with high name recognition — especially when crime rates have fallen.

Still, Stillman said David’s current job in the Maryland Office of the State Prosecutor has prepared her to lead the state’s attorney’s office, saying she is “willing to not back down in the face of sometimes very powerful, very angry people.”

“Prosecuting public officials,” Stillman said, “frankly, takes a lot of guts.”