Katie Curran O'Malley Launches Maryland Attorney General Bid

BALTIMORE (AP/WJZ) -- Former Baltimore judge Katie Curran O'Malley formally announced Thursday that she is running for attorney general.

The former Maryland first lady retired from the bench in October and formed a committee to explore a run after current Attorney General Brian Frosh announced he wouldn't seek reelection next year.

O'Malley, 59, emphasized her legal experience as she launched her bid, noting her decade of experience as a prosecutor in Baltimore County and her 20 years as a district court judge in Baltimore City. She said she was tough on the bench, but never forgot her values and that everyone deserves justice.

"I have the experience and knowledge of our criminal justice system that our Attorney General needs to do the job on day one," O'Malley said in a statement. "I know how our justice system works and I know how it doesn't work."

O'Malley's father, J. Joseph Curran Jr., was Maryland's attorney general from 1987 to 2007.

In the Democratic primary, O'Malley will face Rep. Anthony Brown, who served as the lieutenant governor for her husband, former Gov. Martin O'Malley.

One Republican, Jim Shalleck, a former prosecutor and county elections board president, has filed to run for attorney general.