By Tashi McQueen
AFRO Political Writer
tmcqueen@afro.com
Thiruvendran “Thiru” Vignarajah, former deputy attorney general of Maryland, is running for mayor of Baltimore City yet again.
“I hope the people of Baltimore understand that I love running, but I love running for Baltimore,” said Vignarajah on Jan. 24 to reporters outside Baltimore City Hall.
Vignarajah ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor in 2020, losing by 18 percent of the votes or 26,847 votes. He also ran for Baltimore City state’s attorney in 2022 but was defeated by Ivan Bates for the Democratic nomination, losing by 11 percent of the votes or 8,999 votes.
“I have years of experience in leadership, in fighting crime, organizing coming up with solutions to big problems,” said Vignarajah. “I think there is a handful of positions in government where you can make the kind of dramatic changes at the pace that this city needs.”
Vignarajah said he believes the mayor and the state’s attorney can make those necessary changes.
“If it were not for him, we would not have gotten the justice that we did,” said Rebecca Reynolds, sister of Timothy Reynolds, who was shot and killed after approaching a group of squeegee boys with a bat in July 2022. “He is an amazing person, and this city is begging for change. The citizens that have lived here their entire lives deserve to have someone like Thiru leading this city to a new place, a better place for everyone to live.”
Tavon Scott Jr., 16, was sentenced to 15 years in October 2023 for the killing of Timothy Reynolds.
Vignarajah joins over 14 other candidates for the mayoral position. The other notables of the race include incumbent Mayor Brandon M. Scott, former mayor Sheila Dixon and Baltimore businessman Robert “Bob” Wallace.
“Mr. Vignarajah is free to run as he always does. Our focus is going to continue to be on our record,” said Mayor Scott in reference to Vignarajah’s announcement.
Mayor Scott highlighted his success in significantly reducing homicides in Baltimore in 2023, opening recreation centers and a fast-growing economy.
Along with the news of his mayoral bid, Vignarajah announced that he would use public financing to fund his campaign.
“We can slowly but surely build up the resources to take on people that are wedded to the old system… that believe that the pay-to-play culture is the only system that this city has ever known and will ever know,” said Vignarajah. “The idea of going around and asking people to make a small contribution to show their faith in this campaign, in this city – it’s going to be joy.”
This route is relatively new for Baltimore City as it was just established in 2020 and not many candidates are using it yet. He joins former city councilmember Shannon Sneed, who’s running for city council president, in this approach.
As of January, Sneed has raised more than $230,000, which includes matching funds from public funding through the Baltimore City Fair Election Fund (FEF). Under FEF, individual contributions cannot go over $150. Also, contributions gathered outside of the FEF are not permitted for use.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Ehlrich has successfully run twice on public financing. Under Montgomery County public campaign financing laws he could accept a minimum of $5 and at most $250 from individual contributors to qualify for the matching funds, according to the Montgomery County Council.
Tashi McQueen is a Report For America corps member.
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