SNOW HILL — On a cold, slushy Monday evening this week, Deputy State’s Attorney William McDermott announced he was seeking election to State’s Attorney for Worcester County.
As expected, McDermott announced on Monday he is running for Worcester County State’s Attorney in the upcoming election after current State’s Attorney Beau Oglesby was appointed by Governor Larry Hogan last month to fill one of two Worcester County Circuit Court judgeship vacancies. When the short list of nominees for the two judicial vacancies included Oglesby, the current state’s attorney said McDermott would seek the position in the upcoming election if he was ultimately appointed and that scenario has played out as expected.
Thus far, only Wicomico County prosecutor Kristin Heiser has thrown her hat in the ring for the Worcester County State’s Attorney election. Ogle Heiser made her announcement in Ocean City earlier last fall. McDermott made his announcement on Monday evening on the steps of the State’s Attorney’s Office in Snow Hill with a large crowd of supporters including many law enforcement officers and court employees standing in the cold and snow and slush.
“My parents always taught me to be careful of the friends you keep,” he said. “Looking out at this extraordinary group of people here today, I hope Worcester County is judging me by the friends I keep.”
McDermott said he had second thoughts about making his announcement outside on Monday with the piles of snow and slush still evident from last week’s storm.
“I was tempted to cancel this today for a lot of reasons including the snow and the cold, but I’m so glad we moved forward,” he said. “There are so many of our brothers and sisters in blue here today and every law enforcement agency is represented. That’s incredible. You are our heroes in blue.”
McDermott referenced being a life-long Snow Hill resident and talked about the hard work and determination he learned while growing up in a small town. He related stories of watching court proceedings after school and mentioned long-time lawyer and public attorney Burton Anderson as his mock trial coach in high school.
He also talked at length about his parents, particularly his father who is known as the “phone man” in Snow Hill. He related a story of his father installing the phone system at the new State’s Attorney’s Office building in Snow Hill.
“When I was just out of law school and had a case that didn’t go my way, I was a little down and I went to see my father who was working on this building,” he said. “My father took me to a phone panel he had installed where the letters FHWHM were written with a marker. When I asked him what it meant, he said Future Home of William H. McDermott.”
There were also victims of crimes and surviving members of families impacted by crimes in attendance whose cases McDermott had successfully prosecuted. Among them were the daughter of a Pocomoke man murdered in his home, a county worker struck and severely injured by a negligent driver while working on a job site and a family whose lives were forever changed when they were rear-ended at a high rate of speed on Route 611. He also referenced the successful prosecution of a drunk driver who struck and killed a 23-year-old man on Coastal Highway last May, a trial that ended just last week.
“These types of crimes happen all the time here,” he said. “Law enforcement takes care of them at the time of the incident and it is our job when they get here to take them to trial and hold them accountable.”
McDermott said he would rely on his vast experience as deputy state’s attorney if elected.
“I will be ready on day one,” he said. “I will be involved in every hiring decision, every human resources decision and every budget decision. Since we’ve been here, we’ve actually decreased the budget and have been fiscally conservative stewards of taxpayer money.”
McDermott referenced what he called Worcester exceptionalism and the strong, unwavering and absolute dedication that comes with it.
“I will continue the traditions of this office,” he said. “We have the most formidable group of prosecutors in the state. They are tough and tenacious with one purpose to do God’s work.”
He closed by reading a prayer left behind for him by former Deputy State’s Attorney Abbie Marsh.
“If the voters of Worcester County read this prayer, they will know who the best person for this job is,” he said. “If the voters want references, all they have to do is talk to the people in this crowd. I am the best person for this job in Worcester County.”
