Dorchester County, a rural Eastern Shore community of roughly 33,600 residents, is heading into the 2026 election season with nobody on the ballot for state’s attorney. With the filing deadline now closed and the top prosecutor’s race sitting empty, local party leaders and county officials are scrambling to find someone willing to take on the county’s heaviest criminal caseload.
Filing deadline slams shut, top job left vacant
When the filing window closed, no one had formally signed up to run for Dorchester County state’s attorney, according to The Baltimore Banner. The outlet reported that Victoria Brohawn briefly filed paperwork on Feb. 24, then withdrew it the very next day. The Republican Central Committee has since nominated public defender Kenneth E. Thalheimer as its prospective candidate, but that move came after the official deadline, so voters will not see his name on the primary ballot.
Incumbent steps aside as party committees gear up
The incumbent, Amanda Leonard, was appointed in 2022 and later elected, but she did not file for another term, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections and reporting described in local coverage. With no one on the ballot, WBOC notes that the Dorchester County Democratic and Republican central committees can each name a replacement to appear on the November ballot. That gives party leaders a tight timeline to sort out who will carry their banner into the general election.
Small prosecutor’s office, big workload
The state’s attorney’s office is supposed to be staffed with six prosecutors, but at times it has operated with as few as three, and it handles roughly twice the proportionate number of criminal cases as Baltimore, according to The Baltimore Banner. County records from the FY24 budget put the office’s operating budget at about $996,470. The elected state’s attorney is paid roughly $161,000 a year by statute, a combination of heavy workload and limited pay that local officials and observers say makes it harder to recruit experienced prosecutors.
Federal lawsuit puts office decisions under a spotlight
The office is also facing scrutiny in federal court. Key’Marion Ennals, who spent about 631 days in jail on a 2021 murder charge before a jury acquitted him, has filed a lawsuit alleging prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence. WBOC documented his lengthy pretrial detention and relatively swift acquittal, and reporting compiled by National Today shows that Ennals filed his federal suit in January 2026 and that the state has moved to dismiss the case on prosecutorial immunity grounds.
What Dorchester voters can expect next
With a blank ballot in play, the path to the state’s attorney’s office will likely run through party central committees and any late-breaking write-in campaigns. County officials say the current scramble highlights broader recruitment problems that small, rural prosecutor offices face, where a handful of lawyers juggle serious felony work on a modest budget. Voters can expect party announcements and potential appointments in the coming weeks as Dorchester tries to stabilize one of its most critical public safety roles.
