Been there. Done that.
That was attorney general candidate Stuart Simms? response to opponent Doug Gansler?s list of accomplishments.
“Everything he talked about, I did many years ago,” Simms said.
Gansler and Simms, the two remaining candidates for the Democratic primary, squared off in a debate Monday broadcast on Maryland Public Television.
Last week, the Court of Appeals declared Montgomery County Council Member Thomas Perez, a Democrat, ineligible to run.
At the debate, Montgomery County State?s Attorney Gansler said he has a long list of accomplishments, including setting up an Internet crime unit, domestic violence docket and community prosecution office.
“We?ve been innovative,” Gansler said. “… My record of getting things done is what stands us apart.”
He also called Montgomery County “certainly the top state?s attorney?s office in Maryland.”
A former Baltimore City state?s attorney, Simms said Baltimore created the first domestic violence docket in 1984.
The two candidates also clashed over how much the attorney general should involve his office in criminal prosecutions.
Gansler said he supported the attorney general having a larger role in criminal prosecutions, while Simms said those ideas were misguided, and local prosecutors should head such efforts.
“The focus of attorney general really is on civil representation,” Simms said. “… If you want to be state?s attorney for life, then you run for state?s attorney.”
Gansler?s signature issue is the environment, he said.
“The environment is certainly where the need is for an active attorney general,” he said.
Simms? top issue is civil rights ? for children, the elderly and any individuals who are discriminated against, he said.
“We have to be about equal access in society,” he said.
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Scott Rolle, the Frederick County State?s Attorney, in the general election.
