Democrat Thiru Vignarajah drops out of 2024 Baltimore mayoral race, endorses Shelia Dixon

Baltimore Democratic mayoral candidate Thiru Vignarajah is dropping out of the race.

“I’ve never done this before,” Vignarajah said of what he considers bittersweet news.

Vignarajah, 47, announced his decision Wednesday afternoon, and endorsed former Mayor Sheila Dixon’s campaign.

“This was, as you might imagine, not an easy decision,” Vignarajah said. “When we entered this race, it was because of the love I have — the love all of us have — for this great city. I still don’t know of any other city in the country that has a bigger distance between where we are and where we could be. Leadership his needed to unleash that potential.”

Vignarajah spoke of his support for Dixon, saying: “Sheila Dixon loves this city with all of her heart, she has her whole life … She has devoted herself to public service, she has devoted herself to make this city a little bit better.”

Speaking to why he’s endorsing the former mayor, Vignarajah said there’s more at stake to this election than just politics.

“When I talk to Sheila, when I hear her hopes and dreams for the city, when I hear the kinds of people that she knows are needed in government, that’s the kind of shared vision that I was excited to get behind,” Vignarajah said.

Dixon said she’s grateful and humble for Vignarajah’s supporting, saying she looks forward to working with him on his ideas, including one to create a digital tracking system for reporting issues in need of city services via 311.

“Choosing to step up out of this race is evidence of your love for Baltimore and your willingness for the best of Baltimore,” Dixon said.

As a former criminal prosecutor at the federal, state and local levels, Vignarajah ran in 2017 and 2022 for city state’s attorney. He first ran for mayor in 2020.

Source: WBAL

Baltimore mayoral challengers question mayor’s spending of ARPA funding

A challenger to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott leveled harsh criticism over the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal pandemic aid through the American Rescue Plan Act.

Democratic primary mayoral candidate Thiru Vignarajah on Thursday accused Scott of using Baltimore’s allocation as “a personal slush fund.”

He’s calling for an independent forensic audit to get to the bottom of “unilateral” and “nebulous” distributions to dozens of nonprofit organizations, as well as $2 million to the Service Employees International Union, $15 million to Clean Corps to clean trash in city neighborhoods and $5 million to Lexington Market.

“It’s a thinly veiled political payback in a city that has had it pay-to-play culture for too long,” Vignarajah said.

Fellow Democratic primary challenger and former Baltimore mayor, Sheila Dixon, questioned why Scott didn’t use ARPA funds for roads and bike lanes and to synchronize traffic lights.

“I agree with some of the criticism. It’s clearly a missed opportunity, and it clearly shows the mismanagement of this current administration,” Dixon said. “(The money could have been used on) getting those pools open, recycling would not have stopped. I would have met hiring the private sector to partner with the city while we build up our revenue and our inventory of new trucks, EMS, fire trucks fire stations. There’s a disconnect. It’s about accountability, and it’s about management.”

WBAL-TV 11 News reached out to Scott for an interview. His City Hall office called this a political issue. His re-election campaign office said Vignarajah has not offered “any viable vision” for how he would use ARPA funding.