Montgomery County Deputy State?s Attorney John McCarthy announced his bid Tuesday for the post being vacated by State?s Attorney Doug Gansler with a broad show of support from county Democratic leaders and law enforcement officials.
McCarthy, 54, highlighted his participation in several innovative programs, including establishing the state?s first full-time gang prosecutor, Teen Court, Elder Abuse Task Force and the first DNA cases and no-body murder convictions.
“I have lived in Montgomery County for 32 years. I have been a teacher, civic leader, parent, parishioner, prosecutor, coach and mentor for the entirety of those years,” he told a crowd of supporters on the historic red-brick courthouse steps in Rockville. “I know Montgomery County?s neighborhoods and I know its schools.”
The Montgomery County state?s attorney oversees 70 attorneys who prosecute as many as 35,000 cases a year in a county of more than 900,000 people.
The state?s attorney position opened when Gansler announced his bid for the state?s attorney general position.
McCarthy campaign manager Stanley Gildenhorn, who is a former chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Party, said his candidate enjoys almost unprecedented partywide support for the position.
Both Democratic contenders for the county executive seat, former County Council Member Isiah Leggett and current Council Member Steve Silverman, stood behind McCarthy.
His only declared challenger, Democrat Daniel M. Fox, is a business analyst and lawyer from Bethesda.
He is campaigning on a platform of bringing more business sense and accountability to the way the office handles its caseload.
He said the office is “understaffed” and that although the County Council “repeatedly asked them for staffing and caseload information, they do not provide it.”
