Brian Frosh wins Democratic attorney general nomination
Brian Frosh won the Democratic primary election for attorney general with 49.7 percent of the vote, the State Board of Elections reported at 3 a.m. Wednesday.
Eric Cortellessa, the Frosh campaign’s deputy press secretary, said competitor Jon Cardin conceded the race at about 10:20 p.m. Tuesday, and Frosh was declared the winner.
“We’re thrilled. Brian Frosh has served admirably for the last 28 years in the Maryland General Assembly and he’s ready to do this job,” Cortellessa said.
Moving forward to prepare for the general election, the campaign team said it plans to continue to campaign and meet voters in person, which Cortellessa said he considers a huge factor in the primary victory. He reported feeling a “great deal of momentum” in the weeks leading to the primary election.
“Once voters got to meet Brian, they wanted to vote for him,” he said. “There’s no time to rest on our laurels. It’s back to the campaign trail.”
Frosh competed in this election against Cardin and Aisha Braveboy for the Democratic nomination. Cardin and Braveboy received 30.3 and 20 percent of the statewide votes, respectively, the State Board of Elections reported.
Braveboy had the majority of Prince George’s County’s support with 44.95 percent of the vote over Frosh and Cardin, respectively.
Voting results are considered unofficial until all absentee ballots are calculated on July 10.
A husband and father of two daughters, Frosh strongly advocated public safety, social justice and consumer and environmental protection in his campaign, Cortellessa said. If elected, Frosh will focus on issues of bank foreclosures, violent crimes, sexual assault and other topics.
Frosh has been a state senator since 1995 and has held several leadership positions, including Judicial Proceedings Committee chairman, giving him a strong role in the legislature and connections he can use in his new position, Cortellessa said.
Student Government Association President and junior government and politics major Patrick Ronk said the nominee will need to focus on issues of sexual assault and discrimination if he takes office.
“The attorney general is one of the most important people to the whole state,” he said.
“Specifically for students, this means ensuring that women are protected from sexual assault on campus and rapists are prosecuted. It means making sure no students are discriminated and looked over for jobs.”
Ronk said the SGA worked with Attorney General Doug Gansler and others last year to protect students with internships from sexual harassment in their workplaces, and they intend to do the same this year.
“He’s very committed to ending sexual assault in general, and in particular he wants to address the problematic high trends on college campuses and in the rest of the nation,” said Cortellessa. “I think he’s going to be very vigilant.”
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the length of Brian Frosh’s tenure in the Maryland General Assembly. This story has been updated to reflect the correct length.
