Posted on 12/23/23
| News Source: FOX45
There could be a shake-up in the Baltimore mayor's race with an announcement from Thiru Vignarajah on Friday. The former federal and state prosecutor said he is forming an exploratory committee to weigh a mayoral bid. Running for mayor is not new for Vignarajah..he's done it before, unsuccessfully.
Richard Vatz, Ph.D., a political rhetoric professor at Towson University, weighs in on the would-be candidate's calculated move.
"It tells us that he's going to run. There are always exceptions, but I can't think of any major candidate who ever set up an exploratory committee who had not found any immediate ratification from that committee for their running," said Vatz.
Vignarajah released a statement on the matter that reads in part: "Folks have never been more frustrated with ineptitude and corruption in city government."
That statement, part of his motivation to once again consider running for mayor.
"Once for mayor, twice at state's attorney," said John Dedie, a political scientist. "The biggest problem he could have is, you don't want to lose this race and then after this race become known as the perennial candidate. That's the worst thing you can be called, and people thinking of you as, 'he's running again,' it's never a good look."
Vignarajah, a Democrat, ran unsuccessfully twice for Baltimore City state's attorney -- the last time in 2022, and for mayor in 2020.
Incumbent Mayor Brandon Scott won the 2020 mayoral primary with nearly 30% of the vote, squeezed by current mayoral candidate Sheila Dixon.
Vignarajah finished fourth with just over 11% of the vote.
Now, some political observers believe...should Vignarajah choose to run again he could once again shake things up--possibly splitting the vote. That's when one candidate takes more votes from one candidate than another.
"This time around, people feel that the vote splitting is with Sheila Dixon because they would be similar on issues related to crime and things like that," said Dedie.
"It is. It's a real possibility. In the worse situation for Sheila Dixon and for him, this could come down to the mayor's advantage. But I think it's a risk worth taking," said Vatz.
Vignarajah will have to make his decision within the next several weeks. The filing deadline to get on the ballot is in early February.