Baltimore County state's attorney race turns negative over mailer linking Scott Shellenberger to ICE

David Collins | WBALTV11 News | May 29, 2026 | Original Source

TOWSON, Md. —

The competitive Democratic primary race for Baltimore County state's attorney is taking a negative turn.

A political mailer funded by an independent group and circulating to voters implies incumbent Scott Shellenberger works with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The mailer states, "When Scott Shellenberger works with ICE, he puts us all at risk."

WBAL-TV 11 News has learned Shellenberger doesn't deny working with ICE in one particular case, a sexual assault case involving an 11-year-old girl and an undocumented immigrant. Shellenberger's office took an extraordinary step after the man was convicted to ensure he never sets foot in Baltimore County again.

"The offender had sexually assaulted a child — an 11-year-old — and what happened was because the family didn't want the child to testify and have to go through a trial, we were able to get a conviction, we were able to get some jail time," Shellenberger told WBAL-TV 11 News. "But my prosecutor felt that we needed to protect the citizens of Baltimore County, and so, she contacted ICE because he was here illegally and he was kicked out. He will not sexually assault another person in Baltimore County again."

The reverse side of the mailer has a positive message about Democratic challenger Sarah David.

"By law, I can't communicate with any organization that's an independent expenditure group, and I can't comment on anything that they're doing. They're completely separate from the campaign," David told WBAL-TV 11 News.

A third Democratic candidate in the race, Lauren Lipscomb, said it's inappropriate for outsiders to try to influence local races. In her words, she's "focused on changing business as usual in the state's attorney's office."

"I understand that Baltimore County is ready for a change, but I also understand that when we move away from the old guard, we have to ensure that we are electing a top prosecutor, such as myself, who has the requisite experience and expertise in order to effectively lead the office, take the office, advance the office further in technology, advance the office further in prosecution and strategy and keep us all safe," Lipscomb told WBAL-TV 11 News.

David said she would be a change agent starting with tracking data.

"Right now, the state's attorney's office doesn't have a police corruption arm or public corruption arm," David said. "We have different crimes now — AI, technology, other types of things — so we need someone with a vision for a modern office."

WBAL-TV 11 News Investigates has confirmed the Working Families Political Action Committee, which has ties to George Soros, spent $350,000 of its own money on TV ads for David and $350,000 for mailers. The PAC said it's not working in coordination with the campaign.