Lawsuit Seeks To Remove Krishanti Vignarajah From Primary Ballot

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Yet another legal battle has erupted in the crowded field of Democratic candidates for governor. A Baltimore County voter has filed a lawsuit challenging the residency status of Krishanti O'Mara Vignarajah, who lived in Washington, D.C., when she worked as a lawyer and in the Obama Administration.

Douglas Horn told The Washington Post that his lawsuit contends Vignarajah should be disqualified from the race because she doesn't meet Maryland election law, which requires that the governor has lived in the state for five years before the election. According to court documents filed as part of the lawsuit seeking to have Vignarajah removed from the June 26 primary ballot, she voted in the District from 2010 through 2014, only casting a ballot for her first time in Maryland in the 2016 general election.

Vignarajah says she meets the state's residency requirements because she considered Maryland her home even during the time she was in Washington, D.C.

“Sadly, it’s no surprise that the only two candidates in this race who have had their ballot access questioned by political operatives are the two women of color,” Vignarajah spokeswoman Aryn Frazier told The Post.

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The other woman Frazier referred to is Valerie Ervin, once running as lieutenant governor for Kevin Kamenetz until he died suddenly last month, has taken the reins as a candidate for governor. She had asked that her name be included with the other gubernatorial candidates but a judge ruled Monday that there is not enough time before the primary to update ballots. Democratic primary early voting runs from June 14 to June 21, and the primary is on June 26. The winner will go on to challenge Republican Gov. Larry Hogan.

Early in her campaign, Vignarajah made headlines when she was shown breastfeeding her child in an ad that created a buzz. The former policy director for first lady Michelle Obama launched the ad to underscore her status at the start of the race as the only woman in the race, along with the state's all-male Congressional delegation and other elected state offices. Her running mate is former Baltimore Teachers Union president Sharon Blake, an African-American.

"They say no man can beat Larry Hogan. Well, I'm no man," Vignarajah says in the YouTube ad. The comment takes aim at Hogan's continuing high approval ratings among both Democrats and GOP voters.

Vignarajah's video says that states led by women have better policy outcomes, and it shows her as a professional, and a mom reading to, playing with, and breastfeeding her then 9-month-old daughter, Alana.

While some voters might see the scenes of her breastfeeding her daughter as controversial, Vignarajah said, "This is my life. This is what moms have been doing forever, juggling and getting the job done. But it isn't just about representation, it's about policy."

She has called for three months of paid family leave, put out a comprehensive plan to fight sexual harassment and sexual violence, and pledged to guarantee universal pre-K, comprehensive STEM funding, and hot and healthy meal for all students. The commercial emphasizes that, "states with women in government have better schools, better healthcare, and lower incarceration rates."

Other Democrats in the race include Prince George's County Executive Rushern Baker III, former NAACP president Ben Jealous, state Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr., attorney James Shea, and tech entrepreneur Alec Ross. Baker and Jealous are seeking to become the state's first African-American governor.

Photo of gubernatorial candidate Krishanti O'Mara Vignarajah courtesy of YouTube video