Democrats across Baltimore headed to the polls Tuesday have three choices for the city’s next state’s attorney.

Candidates vying to become the next top prosecutor had different strategies to curb the city’s record high homicide rate.

There were 338 homicides across the city of Baltimore in 2021, up from 335 in 2020. So far this year, there were 196 homicides.

Incumbent state’s attorney Marilyn Mosby is running against former federal prosecutor Thiru Vignarajah and defense attorney Ivan Bates who once worked for the city office.

Mosby was charged with perjury and making false statements related to her home purchases in Florida. Mosby’s trial is scheduled for Sept. 19 in federal court.

Mosby claims that she was targeted because of her policy choices as a Black leader who wants to curb racial discrimination and maintains her innocence.

“I will never be complicit in that type of discriminatory enforcement of laws against poor black and brown people,” Mosby said. “That has made me a target. I have received hate mail, death threats; I’ve been mocked; I’ve been ridiculed; I’ve been harassed. I’ve been sued. I’ve been investigated.”

Mosby said that Baltimore’s reputation for violence across the state and the nation is unfortunate.

One way she sought to stem the violence was to create a conviction integrity unit, the first of its kind in Maryland and touted it as a model for the nation.

The city unit investigates innocence claims and wrongful conviction. Each year, there are 300 requests from incarcerated individuals.

Mosby said she disagrees with her opponents’ plans to get ‘tough on crime’ to tackle the city’s violent crime rate.

“They’re talking about going back to an era of zero tolerance policing, which led to mass incarceration which led to police abuse and police corruption,” Mosby said.

Thiru Vignarajah, a former city, state and federal prosecutor is one of her opponents.

Vignarajah said a top priority is to rebuild relationships between the community and law enforcement. Criminals will be held responsible for their actions, he said.

“If you’re using 40 caliber weapons, have fired more than ten shots at the crime scene, are committing these murders in broad daylight, are finishing victims off with headshots, that’s not your first offense. It’s something you’ve done before and you’re likely to do again,” says Vignarajah.

“So our complement of cold case prosecutors are going to focus on those cases.”

He wants to hire more homicide detectives. In Baltimore County, there’s one detective for every three murders but in Baltimore City there’s one detective for every ten murders.

“It’s a huge part of why in the county they solve 90% of homicides,” he said. “But in Baltimore city we make arrests in less than a quarter. Murders are the city’s defining challenge. I pledge to get murders below 200 in two or three years.”

Candidate Ivan Bates, the managing partner of the law firm Bates and Garcia, is a former states attorney employee.

Bates said he wants to be remembered for crime reduction as his legacy.

“That I kept my word, that I gave 100% effort and that I really cared about the people and put people first,” he said. “I think so often we don’t believe politicians believe they are here for us. I don’t want to view myself as a politician but I think if you’re running for political office, you’re kind of a de facto politician. But I just want to be different. I want people to see who I am.”

Bates said he would have a fresh perspective, if elected.

Mosby, Vignarajah and Bates all say that tackling the homicide problem is a top priority. They just differ on how to get the job done.