BALTIMORE — Ivan Bates has all but secured his position as Baltimore City’s next top prosecutor after his only opponent for November, Roya Hanna, dropped out of the race and endorsed him.
Hanna, a former prosecutor who entered the primary as a Democrat before withdrawing in April, was running as an independent in the general election.
Bates was declared the Democratic nominee last week. Hanna ran unopposed, and the Republican Party is not fielding a candidate in the race.
The Associated Press called Bates for the nomination Friday night, when Bates was leading runner-up Thiru Vignarajah by 10 points and incumbent Marilyn Mosby had slid to third place with just under 30% of the vote.
Bates and Hanna have a conference set for Friday morning, in which Hanna is expected to throw his support behind the State’s Attorney apparent.
When he accepted the nomination Monday at his campaign headquarters, Bates called for a new approach to stop crime in Baltimore through unity amongst leadership.
“I believe in collaborative working relationships,” he said. “This isn’t about me, this is about me and about us. The first thing you have to do is adjust attitude. When you adjust attitude you can work from there. Because right now Baltimore, we’re in our silos. We’re fighting, but we’re not fighting together. If we fight together, we can win together.”
In his campaign, Bates touted his record “holding the worst criminals to account” as a prosecutor and “taking on the corrupt Baltimore police” when he represented victims of Gun Trace Task Force as a defense attorney.
His platform includes implementing a homicide review program similar to the ones in Milwaukee and Oakland, and creating a specialized unit for violent gun crimes and illegal gun possession.
Addressing one of Mosby’s high-profile cases, Bates has supported dismissing charges against Keith Davis Jr., who is awaiting a fifth trial in the 2015 murder of a Pimlico security guard. Two trials ended with a hung jury. One ended in a conviction that was later thrown out.
The most recent case ended in a conviction and 50-year sentence, but a judge granted Davis a new trial.