BALTIMORE — Bobby LaPin, a Baltimore boat charter operator and social media personality is challenging Maryland Senate President Bill Ferguson in the District 46 Democratic primary, positioning himself as a more progressive alternative.
We asked both candidates for an interview. LaPin accepted and Senate President Bill Ferguson declined.
We asked LaPin what inspired him to run.
One-on-one with the boat captain looking to unseat the second most powerful man in Maryland
"I think like every other person, every other working person, we're just drowning in so many bills and so much high costs, and I think a lot of people can agree that we kind of live in a society where the politicians seem to always do the favors of the big, the bold, the billionaires, the large developers, and seldom listen to the needs of the people," LaPin said.
LaPin has pushed for redistricting, which Ferguson did not support during the legislative session. Ferguson has since changed his position following repeated calls from the governor, other Democratic senators, and Lapin. Ferguson is now discussing a special session after the primary.
"Maryland didn't start this. All right. Texas started this, and if you could see the farce of the trees like I could reading Project 2025, I realized that the goal was to gut the Voting Rights Act. And when the Supreme Court did it, now here we are once again trying to backtrack and trying to bring redistricting up. If we would have Done that in the first place, we would already have this defensive map set up rather than having to go back in the past now and try to make up for something that won't even take effect until 2028," LaPin said.
LaPin also raised concerns about fire department resources in Baltimore City, pointing to a recent state grant to Johns Hopkins as an example of misplaced priorities.
"Every single day, 4 to 10 fire companies are out of service because Baltimore City doesn't have enough apparatus. They say it's too expensive to buy apparatus. Yet just last week, $9 million was given to Johns Hopkins, a multi-billion dollar nonprofit that doesn't pay taxes to build a data center in Bayview. That's $9 million a state grant that's coming from the taxpayers of Maryland. That $9 million could buy 7 new fire engines," LaPin said.
While Johns Hopkins does not pay property taxes, it does contribute money to the city in lieu of taxes, though that amount is a fraction of what it would pay if it were not tax-exempt.
If LaPin defeats Ferguson, Baltimore would likely lose the advantage of having the Senate's top leader representing the city, a position that helps ensure Baltimore's interests are considered in high-level Senate decisions.
"I think it's important to note that the governor of Maryland makes the budget for Maryland, and right now the governor of Maryland doesn't like the Senate president. So if I do beat the Senate president, maybe the governor will like me and will get a lot more money for Baltimore City," LaPin said.
The District 46 Democratic primary is June 23.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
