Baltimore Sheriff endorses Sheila Dixon in mayoral race, argues Brandon Scott ‘obstructed’ sheriff’s office

Baltimore Sheriff Sam Cogen endorsed former Mayor Sheila Dixon in the race for mayor Monday, becoming the latest law enforcement official to endorse in the contest.

Cogen, the city’s sheriff since 2022, said Dixon will make the sheriff’s office a partner in her administration, something he says current Mayor Brandon Scott has failed to do.

“I do not have a partner with this mayor,” Cogen said of Scott during a news conference in Dixon’s campaign headquarters. “I need a partner.”

Cogen’s terminology echoed that of Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates who endorsed Dixon earlier this month. Bates’ endorsement came just days after he went public about a growing “rift” between him and Scott over their approaches to fighting crime. Bates said Scott had not backed him in his efforts to implement a citation docket to prosecute low-level crimes. In an interview with The Baltimore Sun, Bates said he needs a “partner” in City Hall. He also appeared in a television ad alongside Dixon titled “partner.”

Dixon, Baltimore’s mayor from 2007 to 2010, is hoping to oust Scott from the office he has held since 2020. Former prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah and businessman Bob Wallace are also in the field. All are Democrats. The Democratic primary May 14 is likely to determine the outcome of the race in deeply blue Baltimore.

A recent poll for The Sun, University of Baltimore and FOX45 showed Scott and Dixon locked in a close contest with 38% of likely voters saying they supported the incumbent mayor and 35% saying they favored Dixon.

Cogen, who campaigned on a promise to reform the sheriff’s office and make it a more active participant in city law enforcement, said Scott and his administration have “obstructed” the progress of the sheriff’s office “through incompetence, delay or by deliberate means.” Asked for more detail, Cogen said he had reached out to the Scott administration about getting sheriff’s office employees more involved, and that outreach has been met with silence.

“I don’t see any return on that kind of dialogue,” Cogen said. “That’s lacking. It’s very problematic because of that.”

Cogen said Scott has been resistant to increasing wages for his deputies who he said make $30,000 less than city police officers. He likened Scott to a bear that wants to eat him.

“If a bear is threatened by you, you play dead for that bear, right? Because it’s just a territorial thing. But there’s another bear that just comes to try to eat you. I sort of feel like I’m not getting anything from him (Scott) — he’s the eating bear,” Cogen said.

“So when the bear comes to eat you, you don’t play dead for that bear, you fight that bear,” Cogen added. “And that’s sort of like where I am right now.”

Scott’s office confirmed Monday that Cogen made a request to use money within the sheriff’s budget to increase salaries for employees. Scott’s staff supplied a letter from the mayor to Cogan explaining that the money the sheriff hoped to use was committed to cover wages, including overtime and detail pay, through the end of the current budget year. Additionally, the Maryland Secretary of Budget and Management has the authority to set salaries for employees of the office, the letter states.

“Mayor Scott has said repeatedly that public safety is too important to play politics with,” Scott’s spokesman Bryan Doherty said. “Mayor Scott will always do the right thing the right way, in accordance with the law, no matter how frustrating that is for Sheriff Cogen.”