ENDORSEMENT: Jim Shalleck for Attorney General

Marylanders have a choice; they can elect an Attorney General who is a politician or they can elect an Attorney General who is a prosecutor. The choice should be obvious.

Everything you need to know about the race for Attorney General of Maryland can be summed in one word; experience.

Sure, we could talk about the political implications of all of this race.

We can talk about how Katie Curran O’Malley comes from a political family, was appointed a judge for political reasons, and how she too heavily invested in politics during her time on the bench.

We can talk about the disaster that Anthony Brown was as Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, and how he parlayed his 2014 loss to Larry Hogan into three largely anonymous terms in Congress.

We can talk about Michael Peroutka’s radical extremism, his 2004 run for President, his Christian Reconstructionist beliefs, and his bizarre interview with the Maryland Bar Association.

Or we can talk about Jim Shalleck’s years of service to the Maryland Republican Party, running in many thankless elections when the current arbiters of who is and is not a Republican were still Democrats.

But I think it comes down to experience.

As an attorney, Katie Curran O’Malley was primarily a “public service attorney”, focusing primarily on her time in the white-collar and economic crimes division.

As an attorney, Anthony Brown was a litigator with no prosecutorial experience.

As an attorney, Michael Peroutka was a lawyer for debt collectors with no prosecutorial experience.

As an attorney, Jim Shalleck was an Assistant Attorney General in New York, and an Assistant District Attorney in New York City, and the Chief of New York City’s Homicide Bureau. He prosecuted the infamous Son of Sam.

Jim Shalleck is the only candidate with meaningful prosecutorial experience. And it shows. That’s why in his candidate survey, Shalleck wrote:

Fighting the epidemic of crime will be my priority. I will use every resource and personnel available to assist State's Attorneys in prosecuting violent and repeat offenders. There should be no plea bargaining for these offenders. We must keep our children and families safe.

Jim Shalleck is the only candidate making fighting crime his top priority.

• Anthony Brown is talking about voting rights and weed legalization and protecting abortion. Anthony Brown isn’t prioritizing crime reduction.

• Katie O’Malley is talking about Economic Justice, Protecting Unions, and Climate Justice. Katie O’Malley is only paying lip service to crime reduction.

• Michael Peroutka is talking about prosecuting government officials, election anomalies, and illegal immigrants. Michael Peroutka doesn’t even mention crime once on his website, much less talk about trying to reduce it.

Marylanders have a choice; they can elect an Attorney General who is a politician or they can elect an Attorney General who is a prosecutor. The choice should be obvious. That is why The Duckpin wholeheartedly endorses Jim Shalleck for Atttorney General of Maryland.