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Catherine Curran O鈥橫alley, the former Baltimore City District Court judge and ex-first lady of Maryland, is assembling a campaign team to run for state attorney general in 2022, Maryland Matters has learned.
O鈥橫alley, who resigned from the bench three weeks ago after serving for two decades, has begun hiring ahead of an announcement that鈥檚 expected to come shortly after Thanksgiving. She would become the second major Democratic candidate in the race to replace Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D), who is retiring after two terms in the job and 35 years in state politics. U.S. Rep. Anthony G. Brown (D)聽聽late last month, just days after Frosh said he would not run again.
O鈥橫alley, 59, has yet to speak publicly about her plans, but a source close to the former jurist, speaking on the condition of anonymity to talk freely about the political landscape, said she is 鈥渓eaning heavily toward running鈥nd is convinced she is uniquely qualified to be the 鈥楶eople鈥檚 Lawyer鈥� that Maryland needs right now.鈥�
鈥淛udge O鈥橫alley has made hundreds of calls to activists and elected officials across the state since retiring from the bench,鈥� the O鈥橫alley associated continued. 鈥淭hey have been overwhelmingly positive, and she plans to announce her next steps within the next two to three weeks.鈥�
O鈥橫alley has already set up a state campaign committee, which enables her to raise money, and recently began soliciting donations through Act Blue, a Democratic fundraising organization. Neither the fundraising committee nor the Act Blue page specify what office she is seeking, though the Act Blue page says, 鈥淜atie Curran O鈥橫alley is fighting for Maryland families. Will you chip in now to be one of our first grassroots donors?鈥�
Given her husband Martin J. O鈥橫alley鈥檚 long career as governor, Baltimore mayor and city councilmember, and an unsuccessful candidate for president in 2016 and state Senate in 1990, Judge O鈥橫alley has a broad political network to turn to for help. Moreover, she comes from a long line of successful Baltimore-area Democratic politicians, including her 90-year-old father, J. Joseph Curran Jr., who was the longest-serving elected attorney general in Maryland history, served as lieutenant governor and spent two dozen years in the General Assembly
Dave Hamrick, who was campaign manager for Martin O鈥橫alley鈥檚 presidential bid and runs a political consulting firm, RSH Campaigns, will serve as general consultant to Judge O鈥橫alley鈥檚 campaign. He worked most recently as general consultant for Amy Kennedy, an unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress in New Jersey (and wife of former Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy). In 2018, he was the general consultant for the late Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz鈥檚 campaign for governor, and has also been a consultant for President Obama and national political director at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
Rebecca Phillips, who most recently worked as deputy political director in New Hampshire for President Biden鈥檚 campaign, has been hired to do O鈥橫alley鈥檚 political outreach. Previously, she served as a development and marketing associate for Associated Black Charities in Baltimore.
Colleen Martin-Lauer, the Baltimore-based Democratic fundraiser long associated with Martin O鈥橫alley鈥檚 career, will serve as chief fundraiser and strategic adviser to Judge O鈥橫alley鈥檚 campaign. Her current roster of clients include Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott (D), Baltimore County Executive John A. Olszewski Jr. (D) and Howard County Executive Calvin Ball (D) 鈥� and she was the chief fundraiser for Brown when he ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2014.
O鈥橫alley has yet to hire a campaign manager.
While Brown has already rolled out聽聽from current and former elected officials for his campaign, several well-known politicians are likely to rally around O鈥橫alley鈥檚 campaign as well. National and state women鈥檚 groups, like EMILY鈥檚 List, are also expected to be supportive. Attorneys general in Maryland have only been white males.
While several Democrats said they were eyeing the attorney general鈥檚 race聽聽of Frosh鈥檚 retirement announcement, it is quite possible that the race could turn into a battle between Brown and O鈥橫alley. Former federal prosecutor James F. Shalleck, who has run for office several times in Montgomery County, is the lone Republican candidate for AG.
Brown was Martin O鈥橫alley鈥檚 lieutenant governor for eight years, and while the two did not have a public falling out, there is some lingering resentment between the two camps over the 2014 campaign: Brown associates believe O鈥橫alley was a drag on his fortunes when he ran against now-Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R), while O鈥橫alley allies feel Brown didn鈥檛 do enough to defend their administration鈥檚 record, robbing O鈥橫alley of an opportunity to have his chosen successor prevail.
Even though O鈥橫alley and the Curran family and networks have been highly successful in Maryland politics, the record is not without its blemishes: J.D. Merrill, Katie and Martin O鈥橫alley鈥檚 son-in-law, lost a Democratic primary for state Senate in Baltimore City鈥檚 41st District in 2018; J. Joseph 鈥淢ax鈥� Curran III, Judge O鈥橫alley鈥檚 brother, lost a general election bid for the House of Delegates by less than 200 votes in Baltimore County鈥檚 8th District in 1998.
And then there was Martin O鈥橫alley鈥檚 first campaign for office in 1990 when, as a 27-year-old lawyer, he lost the Democratic state Senate primary for the 43rd District to incumbent Sen. John A. Pica Jr. by just 43 votes, despite the endorsement of the man then described as his future father-in-law 鈥� Attorney General Curran.
