Former Deputy AG Announces Run For State's Attorney

A former deputy state attorney general has joined the Democratic race for Baltimore state's attorney.

Thiru Vignarajah, now a litigation partner at DLA Piper, most recently worked under Attorney General Brian Frosh. He has also been a federal prosecutor, chief of major investigations in the city state's attorney's office, a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer and president of the Harvard Law Review.

His family fled the Sri Lankan Civil War when he was 3. His parents are retired city school teachers. His mother also taught at Morgan State University.

"We cannot become the Baltimore we are destined to be unless we solve the problem of crime. And the State’s Attorney has to lead the charge, not stand in the way," Vignarajah said.

"We know policies of mass incarceration and zero tolerance have made things worse, not better. On my watch, we’re going to bring record-breaking homicide rates to record lows, and we’re going to do it at record speed. At the same time, we’re going to forge the most innovative, transparent, progressive prosecutor’s office in the history of the country. For too long, too many have said those ambitions are incompatible. I have come to believe exactly the opposite, that without one we cannot achieve the other."

Vignarajah's wife, Krish, is mounting a run for governor. However, the former Michelle Obama aide's campaign hit a speed bump after reports she voted four times in Washington while registered in Maryland.

Vignarajah is the second Democrat to challenge incumbent Marilyn Mosby in next year's election. Ivan Bates, an attorney who represented an officer in the Freddie Gray case, is also running.