Baltimore State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby on Tuesday announced she is running for re-election, after deflecting questions last month about her plans as she prepares her defense against federal charges in a trial this September.
In a campaign video released Tuesday, Mosby touted her efforts to convict violent offenders, end the so-called “War on Drugs,” create more opportunities for youth and strengthen trust with Baltimore communities.
Mosby’s office in March 2020 stopped prosecuting drug possession, attempted drug distribution, prostitution, trespassing, minor traffic offenses, open container crimes, and public urination, in an effort to reduce the number of people in jails and prisons during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Over the past few years, we have seen both good and bad days in our city,” Mosby said in the video. “But the one constant is the unwavering resilience in the fight of the great people who call Baltimore home.”
With her husband Baltimore City Council President Nick Mosby, their two daughters, friends and supporters walking behind her and “Jesus Walks” by Kanye West playing in the background, Mosby said “the best is yet to come” for Baltimore because “we’re built for this.”
That final line is a nod to Mosby’s statement to reporters one day after she was indicted on federal charges of perjury and making false statements on loan applications to buy two Florida vacation homes.
“I’m built for this,” she said at the time – a phrase that ran on the front page of the Baltimore Sun.
Mosby has maintained her innocence, saying the charges against her are a political ploy meant to derail her re-election campaign.
The CARES Act allowed state and local government employees to withdraw money from retirement accounts if they had faced financial hardship related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Federal prosecutors have accused Mosby of making false claims about coronavirus-related financial hardship in order to withdraw money from her retirement account.
During a segment with MSNBC’s Joy Reid in February, Mosby’s attorney A. Scott Bolden said his client was within her right to withdraw the money.
“This is her own money in her 457(b),” he said. “If there’s anyone in America that wasn’t financially impacted one way or the other by COVID, this COVID relief plan allowed her to take this money.”
Mosby also told Reid that “I’m ready to go to trial tomorrow.”
Earlier this month a federal judge moved the trial to September after Mosby requested a postponement.
The Democratic primary race for state’s attorney is shaping up to be a rematch of Mosby’s last election. In 2018, she faced off — and won — against defense attorney Ivan Bates and former prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah. Bates and Vignarajah have launched bids for the office again this year.
