Scott backs Tapp-Harper in Baltimore sheriff primary challenge

Brandon Scott moved directly into Baltimore’s sheriff race with a 30-second social media video backing Sabrina Tapp-Harper, the retired assistant sheriff and former Baltimore Police commander challenging incumbent Sam Cogen in the Democratic primary.

The endorsement landed in a race that is easy to overlook but hard to dismiss. Baltimore City sheriff duties are not ceremonial: the office handles courthouse security at the Baltimore City Circuit Court, including protecting judges, maintaining order inside the courthouse, screening visitors for weapons or contraband, and transporting prisoners to and from court. The sheriff’s office Special Operations Division also serves criminal warrants issued by the circuit court, making the job part of the daily machinery of public safety and the justice system.

That is why the primary carries weight far beyond a single office. Maryland’s primary election is set for June 23, 2026, and Baltimore City’s official ballot includes the sheriff race. The filing deadline for that primary passed on February 24, leaving voters with a clear contest between Cogen, who began serving as Baltimore City’s 41st sheriff on November 30, 2022, and Tapp-Harper, who is arguing that the office needs a different kind of leadership as the courts and law enforcement workload keep shifting.

Scott’s move also signaled a broader city power play. By publicly choosing sides in a local race that touches public safety, courthouse operations, and political alliances, the mayor put his name behind a challenger with deep institutional experience. The Scott campaign email echoed that message with a sharper pitch: “Sabrina has always had Baltimore’s back. Now we need to have Sabrina’s.”

Tapp-Harper’s biography gives that argument some weight with city voters. Her campaign site says she was born and raised in Baltimore, graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, Coppin State University and Johns Hopkins University, and later served as a Baltimore Police Department major and commander before becoming a retired assistant sheriff. Her campaign has also made the case that new demands on the court system require a sheriff’s office with enough capacity to keep up.

The race is shaped by more than biography and endorsements. FOX45 reported that Tapp-Harper sued Cogen in 2025 over allegations of retaliation tied to an equal employment opportunity complaint, and a federal court opinion in August 2025 said most of her claims were dismissed while a retaliation claim remained. Cogen, meanwhile, had already drawn a November 2025 endorsement from Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown. In a city where courthouse logistics and public safety sit close to the center of politics, Scott’s backing of Tapp-Harper turned a small race into a test of who controls an office with real power.