Thiru Vignarajah tries again to take another chip out of Baltimore mayoral race

Thiru Vignarajah takes a bite out of his loaded, cheese-drenched vegan sausage at Lexington Market and reflects on how this year is different, refreshing even.

In his fourth campaign in six years — twice for state’s attorney and now twice for mayor — Vignarajah has jumped into the Baltimore harbor and ditched his wealthy donors to instead spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money through Baltimore’s new public campaign financing system.

He’s campaigned alongside the families of victims from some of the city’s highest-profile recent crimes.

He’s also addressed allegations that have dogged his previous campaigns. While not denying or confirming specific claims that he was an abusive boss in the offices of the Baltimore state’s attorney and the Maryland attorney general, he’s apologized and acknowledged he “said and did things” he regrets, including in a recent interview with The Baltimore Sun.

But whether the attempts at candid or attention-seeking moments make any difference in the May 14 primary — a rematch with Mayor Brandon Scott and former Mayor Sheila Dixon, plus businessman Bob Wallace — remains to be seen.

“Breaking this door down is not easy. You know, hacking down a tree, each ax swing takes a chip out of it,” Vignarajah said in a recent interview, about two weeks after a poll for The Baltimore Sun, FOX45 and the University of Baltimore pegged his support at 10%.

Vignarajah finished fourth in the sprawling, 24-person 2020 Democratic mayoral primary, with 11.5% of the vote.

His pitch four years later is largely the same as it was then — reduce homicides, provide free city bus rides, cut property taxes in half over a decade. “Gimmicks,” by his own admission, like jumping into the water in Fells Point, have been designed to get attention to previous environmental plans. And a 185-page “Blueprint for Baltimore” he previously released is still the only platform on his campaign website (a note attached to the plan says some of its policies may need to be changed or removed).

Other tacks are fresher, designed to rib Scott for what is now his track record. The Harborplace redevelopment plans are nothing more than a “backroom deal;” American Rescue Plan Act money, stemming from the federal government’s response to COVID-19, has been used by the Scott administration like a “personal political slush fund.”

“This market is incredible, but it didn’t need $5 million,” Vignarajah said, sitting in the center of the redeveloped Lexington Market after mingling with vendors, getting lunch from Sausage Master and warmly greeting supporters who approached him every few minutes during a recent Friday afternoon.

Scott’s administration allocated ARPA funds to the market in 2022, saying they would help rising construction costs and “maintain minority vendor participation.” Vignarajah said Scott was rewarding campaign donors and that the money would have been more effective going toward Northeast, Hollins or other historic markets.

He said Scott’s ARPA spending on a variety of smaller projects and nonprofits is “the most consequential mistake of this mayor’s administration.” He’d prefer focusing it on larger investments.

2024 voter guide: Candidates for Baltimore mayor

One of the generational projects Scott has backed — Harborplace — Vignarajah has vowed to block. The plan would replace the existing pavilions with a new retail and commercial space and high-rise luxury apartments.

If elected, Vignarajah said he would sign an executive order to ban the construction of residential buildings in public parks and kick off a new planning process with an international design competition. Though he’s pledged to only choose a design with public input, he said he might encourage public support for plans that connect McKeldin Square with the promenade, build a pedestrian bridge over the harbor, increase park space or that create areas for events, retail and waterfront dining.

Vignarajah has long been known for his detailed plans and his energy. A Harvard Law School graduate who clerked for a U.S. Supreme Court justice, he became an assistant Maryland attorney general before going into private practice.

That resume and charisma on the campaign trail helped him attract contributions from wealthy donors across the country and the support of independent political committees backed by some of Maryland’s wealthiest individuals — at least until this year. Since launching his latest bid in January, he’s raised small, $150-maximum donations from city residents in order to qualify for more than $600,000 in public financing.

In the first year that system’s been available in Baltimore, Vignarajah said it’s a “joy” to raise money in a way that ensures he spends time with “people that our elected officials are supposed to be talking to.” Over a few hours at the market, he handed out dozens of invitations to his home — an 8-bedroom, 7-bath Georgian colonial he recently bought in the Guilford neighborhood for $1.25 million, according to public records — for a fundraiser that night.

Vignarajah equated the fundraising to his high-profile, pro-bono legal work, which has helped him grow the kind of name recognition he knows he needs to eventually win a citywide race.

Shannon Reynolds, whose husband, Timothy Reynolds, was killed in a clash with squeegee workers in July 2022, was recently among family members of a dozen murder victims who stood with Vignarajah at a press event to support his candidacy. Also in that group was Krystal Gonzalez, whose 18-year-old daughter, Aaliyah Gonzalez, was one of the two young people killed in the Brooklyn Homes mass shooting last year. (Reynolds’ family is a client of Vignarajah’s and Gonzalez’s is not.)

Gonzalez doesn’t live in the city but said in an interview she believes Vignarajah has compassion for victims and “gets it the most when it comes to prosecuting and holding these violent offenders accountable.” Frustrated with her experience dealing with the city after her daughter’s death, she also said Scott’s administration has not done enough to recruit additional police officers since the Brooklyn shooting.

Gonzalez’s public comments before the City Council after the shooting were a flashpoint in the outrage over violence in Baltimore. Though murders in 2023 dropped below 300 for the first time in nearly a decade and some city programs show signs of progress, Vignarajah said Scott should not get the credit for a trend seen in other major cities after the pandemic.

“I listen to Brandon talk about homicides being down and, great leaders, they don’t look for recognition. The work speaks for itself,” Gonzalez told The Sun. “Homicides being down means absolutely nothing to a mother who lost her child.”

The slow police response to the violence in Brooklyn was featured in Vignarajah’s first major campaign ad this year. It also showed three women who were arrested last year while protesting Baltimore Gas & Electric Co.’s shutting off of their gas to install new meters. Vignarajah represented the women in the case.

“I love how he did that BGE thing,” said Vanessa Terry, who was working behind the counter at Betty Lee’s Candy Dish at the market when Vignarajah walked by last week.

While Vignarajah said he believes he’s defined himself as a candidate “who’s willing to fight for the little guy … no matter the political costs,” he’s had to acknowledge a darker past, too.

In the recent interview with The Sun and in a separate group setting where he summoned reporters to his office in mid-April, Vignarajah addressed past allegations that include depictions of him as an abusive manager.

“I was a demanding boss. I had high expectations of myself and the people that worked with me. I pushed people as hard as I thought they needed to be pushed. I was also a young manager,” said Vignarajah, who was in his mid-30s at the time.

Vignarajah said he was going through a difficult time in his personal life and struggled with “demons.” He said he has “no doubt that I said and did things I shouldn’t have done,” but that he did not remember any of the specific instances reported by The Sun. That includes a 2013 incident in which former law clerk Katie Dorian said he drove a car she was riding in toward a wall and threatened to crash it.

“If I ever made anyone feel that way, I genuinely regret that and I’m sorry,” he said.

In 2022, Dorian shared text messages with The Sun in which Vignarajah used abusive language, calling her a “bitch” and a “wretched piece of s—” and told her to “go to hell” when he felt she was either being disloyal or not working hard enough.

Vignarajah said he did not recall sending those specific texts, but again acknowledged “things that were inappropriate that I regret saying.”

He said he’s tried to be more open about his past during this campaign — partly, he admits, out of necessity.

“At meet and greets in this campaign, I found myself talking about it with strangers … It’s not easy,” he said. “You’ve got to really love this city to put your head in the buzzsaw over and over knowing what it is going to require.”

Baltimore Sun reporter Emily Opilo contributed to this article.

Third in a series of articles about candidates for mayor. Coming Thursday: Sheila Dixon