Charm City Indivisible is very proud to announce our endorsement of Bobby LaPin for Maryland State Senate District 46.

This is our very first candidate endorsement as an organization, and it was not a difficult decision. Bobby represents something we desperately need in Annapolis: a leader who puts service to community above personal ambition, who engages openly with constituents rather than managing them, and who has the courage to stand up for working people over wealthy interests. He has earned our endorsement through his work, his values, and his vision for what District 46, Baltimore City, and Maryland as a whole can be.

Who is Bobby LaPin

Bobby LaPin was born in Southwest Baltimore City, and has spent his life in service—to his country, to his students, to his community. He served in the military, taught in Baltimore public schools, volunteered as a firefighter, and has organized with community groups across the district. His work is guided by a simple principle: show up for people when they need you.

That commitment shows up in concrete ways. When a major snowstorm hit Baltimore, Bobby coordinated volunteer shovelers to help elderly and disabled residents who couldn’t clear their walkways. When immigrants in our community needed to understand their rights during ICE enforcement, Bobby organized and hosted a Know Your Rights training in his neighborhood. He shows up at community meetings, listens to what people are saying, and acts on it.

This is the opposite of what we’ve seen from Senator Ferguson, who has made a practice of not showing up—declining to participate in our endorsement process, failing to respond to organizations reaching out in good faith, and generally treating constituent engagement as optional.

Bobby doesn’t see it that way. He joined our Electoral Working Group for a robust Q&A session, where we were impressed not just by his progressive values and solid policy platform, but also his genuine openness and enthusiasm. He’s been accessible and responsive throughout our endorsement process, answering our questionnaire both thoroughly and promptly. He engages with community organizations because he understands that our elected officials should work for us, not the other way around.

This commitment to accountability extends to how he funds his campaign. Bobby refuses all PAC donations. One hundred percent of his campaign funding comes from individual donors, and 97% of those donations are under $100. In stark contrast, Senator Ferguson accepts tens of thousands in donations from corporations—real estate developers, healthcare companies, energy companies, and more—posing real questions about how he can be trusted to fairly regulate the industries who fund him. Bobby’s funding model, on the other hand, proves something important: you can run a competitive race powered by ordinary people, not corporations.

His Vision for District 46

Bobby’s platform is built on a core insight: the district’s biggest challenges—housing, economic opportunity, safety, accountability—stem from concentrated wealth and power. The solutions require taking on those interests and giving power back to working people.

On housing, this is especially urgent. Baltimore is experiencing an affordability crisis driven by predatory developers, corporate investors, and a state government that has consistently sided with those interests over renters and homeowners. Bobby represents a different approach. He strongly supports just cause eviction legislation, which has repeatedly passed the Maryland House of Delegates, only to languish in committee in Bill Ferguson’s Senate. But Bobby’s housing vision goes further. He also wants to:

• Cap rent increases statewide to prevent the kind of displacement we’re seeing across Baltimore
• Ban luxury subsidies, so developers aren’t using our tax dollars to displace our neighbors
• End tax sales on residents’ primary homes, which prey on struggling Baltimoreans
• Mandate LLC transparency, so we know who is actually buying property in our neighborhoods
• Penalize investors who buy vacant or foreclosed homes for tax purposes, with no intention to rehabilitate them, and expand land bank authority, giving local governments the power to acquire neglected lots and use them for affordable housing and community spaces

These aren’t abstract policy positions. They’re direct responses to what’s happening in District 46 right now. They’re about preventing corporations from treating Baltimore like an investment portfolio and ensuring that people who live here can actually afford to stay and thrive.

Bobby has also been a vocal and consistent advocate for immigrant rights, including the Community Trust Act, which prohibits coordination between Maryland law enforcement and ICE and will soon become law. But what impressed us most wasn’t just his positions—it was his willingness to prioritize them over his own political gain. In the final weeks of the Maryland General Assembly session, when it seemed like the Community Trust Act might not make it to the Senate floor for a vote, Bobby advocated tirelessly, organizing canvasses in Senator Ferguson’s own neighborhood. He could have used Ferguson’s initial hesitation as a political weapon. Instead, he focused on what mattered: getting Ferguson to do the right thing, even though success would likely make Ferguson a stronger political opponent.

Senator Ferguson, on the other hand, has been a less consistent friend of immigrants, seemingly prioritizing political advantage over principle. In previous years, and as recently as 2025, Ferguson blocked a ban on 287(g) agreements in Maryland, citing fears of federal retaliation. On November 14, 2025, he posted on social media that he had changed his mind on the topic—one day after Bobby announced his candidacy. The 287(g) ban passed in February 2026—but Ferguson’s ten-month delay cost approximately 170 people their freedom: they were deported or detained under 287(g) agreements that could have been prevented. The contrast between Bobby’s selfless commitment and Ferguson’s strategic hesitation couldn’t be clearer: one man fought for immigrants because it was right; the other waited until political expediency forced his hand.

Bobby’s vision extends far beyond housing and immigration. He has strong progressive positions on education, public safety, economic opportunity, and environmental protection, and we encourage you to visit his website to learn more! But across every issue, his guiding principle remains the same: government should serve working people, not corporations and special interests. The policies above are examples of how that principle shapes his agenda—not an exhaustive list, but a window into how Bobby thinks about leadership and what he’ll fight for.

Equally importantly, during our endorsement interview, we were impressed not just by Bobby’s progressive values, but by the depth of his policy thinking. When we asked about one of his legislative ideas, he casually cited two examples of similar legislation: one from France, and one from North Dakota. This is typical Bobby: he doesn’t just have ideas; he takes the time to study what’s already been done and learn how it works. That’s exactly the kind of informed, thoughtful leadership we need in Annapolis—someone whose enthusiasm for progressive policy is matched by his seriousness about the research and effort it takes to understand and implement it well.

Why This Matters Now

Bobby’s candidacy comes at a critical moment. The Trump administration is aggressively targeting immigrants, slashing federal funding, and testing the limits of federal power. Our state government has a choice: stand up and fight back, or defer to federal authorities out of fear.

Senator Ferguson has chosen the latter. In 2025, despite the support of the House of Delegates, the Governor, and a majority of Marylanders, Ferguson refused to bring midcycle redistricting to a vote in the Senate, a choice that first inspired Bobby’s decision to challenge him for reelection. When Maryland had the chance to fight back against Republican gerrymandering with the tools we actually had, Ferguson blocked it, citing fears of court challenges. While he sat paralyzed by caution, Republicans were busy redrawing maps across the country to cement their advantage, only changing his position this month, when the strength of the primary challenge he was facing became clear. That same dynamic—fear-based inaction followed by politically-motivated reversal—has defined Ferguson’s entire record. It’s why he blocked the 287(g) ban until a primary challenger forced his hand. It’s why tenant protections die in his committee. It’s why he doesn’t engage with constituents.

Bobby LaPin offers a different approach. He’s not running to build a career; he’s running because our city can’t afford another four years of paralyzed leadership. Bobby believes in fair maps and independent redistricting commissions, but also understands that when the other side is gerrymandering ruthlessly, we have to fight back, not out of hypocrisy, but out of necessity. We need a senator who will protect immigrants, defend tenants, and actually show up for his constituents in every way he can—and one who understands that in a moment of federal overreach, caution is a luxury we can’t afford.

How to Support Bobby

Bobby LaPin is running for State Senate District 46 because he knows, as we do, that our community deserves better. If you agree, here’s what you can do:

• Donate — Bobby’s campaign is powered by small dollar donors like you
• Volunteer — knock on doors, make calls, deliver yard signs, and help get out the vote
• Talk to your neighbors — tell them why you’re voting for Bobby and encourage them to join you
• Vote for Bobby! Check your registration and find your polling place today. You can request a mail-in ballot and vote early from June 11 to 18, or vote on Election Day, June 23.

The stakes are high. But with leaders like Bobby, our city and state can build a future where everyone has a home, where immigrants are safe, and where government works for us, not the corporations.

We’re voting for Bobby LaPin. We hope you will too.

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A note on our endorsement process:

Our endorsement process begins with a thorough questionnaire, which we make available to all declared candidates in a race. All completed questionnaires are evaluated, and those who score well are invited to an interview with our endorsement committee. After all interviews have been conducted, we deliberate and announce our endorsement of the candidate who most aligns with our values.

Charm City Indivisible evaluates all candidates using the following criteria: alignment with our values, thoughtful policy positions, demonstrated commitment to constituent engagement, and a track record and/or clear vision of fighting for working people over wealthy interests. We apply these standards equally to all candidates we evaluate. We believe voters deserve to understand not just who we endorse, but how and why we made that decision.