Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy on Wednesday filed for a fifth four-year term.
McCarthy, a 69-year-old Democrat, was first elected in 2006 and was re-elected in 2010, 2014, and 2018. He is the first person to file for the position for the 2022 election.
McCarthy could not immediately be reached for comment on Wednesday afternoon.
Prior to his election as state’s attorney, McCarthy was a deputy state’s attorney for a decade.
He has maintained his post largely through uncontested races.
McCarthy was re-elected without primary or general election opposition in 2010. In 2014, he again won the Democratic primary unopposed, and defeated a Republican challenger by a nearly 70 to 30 percent margin in November. He ran unopposed in 2018.
In a candidate profile submitted to Bethesda Beat prior to the 2018 election, McCarthy said his experience helps the county “address some of the complex social issues that contribute to crime.”
A Rockville resident, McCarthy has four children. He attended Catholic University of America, then taught at Good Counsel High School. While teaching, he attended law school in the evenings at the University of Baltimore, according to his website.
He graduated in 1979, then worked in private practice, in the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office and as a public defender in Montgomery County. He joined the county’s State’s Attorney’s Office in 1982.
Maryland will hold its 2022 primaries on June 28, followed by the general election on Nov. 8.
The filing deadline is Feb. 22.
Caitlynn Peetz can be reached for comment at caitlynn.peetz@moco360.media
