State drops charges against union leader, delegate in early voting brawl  

Prosecutor described June incident as a ‘mutual fight’ with both parties at fault 

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August 10, 2026 11:05 a.m.

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Neither state Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Dist. 39) nor UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO President Gino Renne will face legal consequences for engaging in a brawl at an early voting site in June, a Montgomery County judge decided Monday. 

Acevero and Renne each sought second-degree assault charges against one another following the June 18 altercation at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park in Gaithersburg. Renne previously told Bethesda Today that the incident followed an argument between Acevero and union staffer about distributing campaign literature in the site’s “no electioneering” zone. 

During a Monday morning hearing at the Montgomery County District Court in Rockville, prosecutor Tammy Leache told District Judge Patrick Mays that the state would formally drop its cases against both men. Mays accepted the move. 

Leache, an Assistant State’s Attorney from Frederick County who prosecuted the case, told Bethesda Today in an interview after the hearing that the state considered the June 18 incident to be a “mutual fight” in which both defendants were at fault. She said both parties agreed not to continue pursuing charges. 

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Renne attended the hearing with his attorney, Jim Shalleck, who told Bethesda Today they were “grateful” the matter has been resolved. Acevero did not immediately respond to Bethesda Today’s request for comment.  

Acevero, who first won election to the Maryland House of Delegates in 2018, won a second term in 2022. Despite his colleagues in District 39 opting to run as a slate without him, Acevero won renomination in the June Democratic primary and is expected to win the November general election, where he is running unopposed.  

The fight between Acevero and Renne happened on the last day of early voting in the presence of other candidates and elected officials, including U.S. Rep. April McClain Delaney (D-Dist. 6). She was among those who tried to intervene, videos that circulated on social media showed. 

In a statement later that day, Gaithersburg police spokesperson Dan Lane told Bethesda Today that officers from the department responded to the Activity Center at Bohrer Park around 6 p.m. for a reported assault.  

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According to Lane, “by the time the officers arrived, the individuals involved had already been separated, and the incident was not directly observed by the police.” He said one person sustained a “minor injury” in the altercation. Police did not arrest either man, Lane said, but officers documented the incident in a police report. 

There is a history of bad blood between Renne and Acevero related to Acevero’s past employment with MCGEO, which represents Montgomery County government employees. Renne has led the union for decades. 

In 2020, Acevero told The New York Times that Renne fired him from the union because he planned to introduce a police reform bill in the Maryland General Assembly. Renne denied those allegations at the time, saying he fired Acevero because of his antagonistic attitude at a meeting to discuss the issue. 

This is a developing story and may be updated. 

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine