Longshot candidate at liberty to speak freely

Listen to this article

Libertarian Leo Wayne Dymowski says he knows he has little chance for victory in his third-party bid for Maryland attorney general — and that the long odds give him a “freedom feeling.”

That includes the freedom to say unpopular things, such as “all drugs should be legal.”

Criminalizing the use and possession of drugs “ensures we have a lot of addicts,” much as Prohibition increased the demand for alcohol, said Dymowski, a 58-year-old hearing officer for the Maryland Parole Commission.

“The system now just doesn’t work,” he said. “We can’t jail ourselves out of the problem.”

If he is somehow elected attorney general, Dymowski said, his office would not oppose the legal appeals of people convicted of simple possession or use of controlled substances.

Dymowski also would not defend Maryland’s gun-control law, saying it plainly violates the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens.

His opposition comes as gun-rights advocates are challenging the 2013 Firearm Safety Act’s ban on assault-style weapons. A federal judge in Baltimore found the law constitutional this year but the case is now pending before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where outgoing Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler is defending the law.

“As attorney general, I would dump that case,” Dymowski said. “Tax-paying citizens have a right to bear arms.”

The Firearm Safety Act makes “criminals’ jobs a lot easier” by making it difficult for their innocent victims to arm themselves, he added.

Dymowski’s stance on drug legalization puts him at odds with his major-party opponents for attorney general: long-time Democratic state Sen. Brian E. Frosh, 68, of Bethesda, and Republican Jeffrey N. Pritzker, 65, of Margolis, Pritzker, Epstein & Blatt P.A. in Towson.

Dymowski’s refusal to defend the Firearm Safety Act also sets him apart from Frosh, the law’s chief sponsor, and Pritzker, a gun-rights supporter who said that as attorney general he would nevertheless be obliged to defend the state law in court.

Noting the sharp differences, Dymowski said being the longshot candidate enables him to “tell what I really believe.”

Chief among those beliefs is the need to end the “drug war” against non-violent users, he said.

He is particularly concerned about disparities in the justice system, with blacks being imprisoned in much greater numbers than whites for similar drug-possession crimes.

“This is the last civil rights issue,” he said.

On other issues, Dymowski said the collusion between “big government” and “big business” blinded Maryland leaders to the failure of the state’s health care exchange. As attorney general, he said he would sue the primary contractor, Fargo, N.D.-based Noridian Healthcare Solutions, for its alleged negligence. (The state has since switched to Deloitte Consulting, which operates the health exchange in Connecticut.)

Dymowski also said he would lobby against speed cameras and oppose what he called “the militarization of the police” who are being armed with military-grade weapons and have discussed using airborne drones to assist in searches.

Asked whether his third-party candidacy can succeed in Maryland, Dymowski referred to the Democrats’ longstanding control of the General Assembly and their history of success in statewide office.

“Actually, in Maryland we need a second party,” said Dymowski, a housing manager for the Housing Authority of Baltimore City before entering law school. He passed the bar in 1988 after graduating from the University of Baltimore School of Law,

With just $80 in his campaign bank account on Aug. 19, the most recent filing deadline (Frosh had $79,701.27 and Pritzker, $1,287.81), Dymowski joked about his longshot bid for attorney general.

“The chances of me winning are like buying a lottery ticket,” he said. “The first thing I would do if I got elected is demand a recount.”

But the Libertarian has not surrendered all hope.

“People are becoming agitated,” Dymowski said. “They are willing to vote for something different.”

LEO WAYNE DYMOWSKI

Party: Libertarian

Age: 58

Hearing Officer, Maryland Parole Commission

Joined Maryland Bar: Dec. 15, 1988

Alma Mater: University of Baltimore School of Law, 1988

Slogan: “Maryland’s choice for safe communities.”