Tapp-Harper claims victory over Cogen, poised to be Baltimore’s first female sheriff

Longtime law enforcement leader Sabrina Tapp-Harper declared victory over incumbent Baltimore City Sheriff Sam Cogen in the Democratic primary race, poising her to become the city’s first female sheriff.

Tapp-Harper, a former top aide in the sheriff’s office who was fired by Cogen after he took office in 2022, held an 11-percentage-point lead over her ex-boss with all Election Day precincts reporting, as well as early votes and some mail-in ballots counted, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections‘ unofficial returns. Cogen, who sought reelection to a second term after defeating longtime Sheriff John Anderson in a close 2022 Democratic primary race, trailed Tapp-Harper by nearly 5,000 votes.

Although the general election isn’t until November, Tapp-Harper is all but certain to become the city’s next sheriff. No Republicans ran in the primary race for sheriff, and either way, Democrats outnumber Republicans in Baltimore by nearly 10 to 1.

“This victory belongs to every resident who believes in a safer, fairer, and stronger Baltimore,” Tapp-Harper said in a statement on social media Wednesday morning.

“Our work to modernize the office, strengthen community trust, and improve public safety starts right now,” she said. “I look forward to serving all of you with integrity and transparency.”

After working in law enforcement for four decades, Tapp-Harper’s policing career ended abruptly in 2022 after Cogen took charge of the office. A lawsuit pending in U.S. District Court for Maryland alleges that Cogen fired her in retaliation for an equal employment opportunity complaint she filed in 2021 that included allegations against Cogen, then an assistant sheriff.

The lawsuit loomed in the background of the race, while key Democrats split their endorsements of the two candidates and the unions representing rank-and-file officers in the city railed against Cogen. It’s also been an expensive race for a relatively small office: In the last campaign finance reporting cycle, Cogen spent nearly $126,000; Tapp-Harper spent roughly a third of that amount.

Some Maryland jurisdictions leave most law enforcement duties to their elected sheriffs, but Baltimore isn’t one of them. In the city and more populous counties, the sheriff’s office’s main functions are mostly limited to providing courthouse security, serving legal paperwork and enforcing court orders such as evictions.

Mayor Brandon Scott, who backed Tapp-Harper on the campaign trail, celebrated the win on social media post, commenting: “Everytime they try to tell Black Baltimore Women what they can’t do they do just that! Congrats to my good friend Sabrina Tapp-Harper!”

On the campaign trail, Tapp-Harper committed to improving the relationship between deputies and the top brass, as well as working in the community to strengthen trust with residents.

She started at the Baltimore Police Department as a cadet in the late 1980s, rising through the ranks to lead the department’s Northern District and its Special Investigations Division. She retired as a major in 2014 and went to the sheriff’s office, where she led the domestic violence unit under Anderson.