Union president files complaint against state delegate after altercation at MoCo early voting site

History of bad blood goes back to Acevero’s firing from Renne's MCGEO

June 19, 2026 12:10 p.m.

Gino Renne, center, along with UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO members at the Universities at Shady Grove in Rockville - Image Credit: Andrew Metcalf

UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO President Gino Renne filed a complaint Thursday night against Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Dist. 39) alleging the state legislator “sucker punched” him outside the polls in Gaithersburg on the last day of early voting for Tuesday’s primary election.

In a Friday phone interview, Renne — whose union represents Montgomery County government employees — said he and members of his staff were at the early voting site at Bohrer Park Activity Center on Thursday evening canvassing for the union’s endorsed candidates.

Renne told Bethesda Today a union staffer confronted Acevero, who is running for re-election, about passing out campaign literature past the “no electioneering” point at the site. The confrontation got heated, and Renne stepped in.

“I looked at him and I said, ‘This is the exact behavior that forced me to fire you,’ ” Renne told Bethesda Today, referring to Acevero’s past employment with MCGEO.

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The argument continued to escalate, with Acevero making comments about a “personal matter” involving Renne’s wife, according to Renne. Eventually, Renne said he got within reach of Acevero, who then struck him in the face.

A MCGEO staffer came to Renne’s defense, Renne said, and all three “ended up going over a table” and fell to the ground. Renne said he scraped his knee and elbow in the struggle and has a swollen lip from the altercation.

In a statement posted to social media on Thursday, Acevero said he “had to use physical force” to defend himself after Renne shouted expletives at him and “menacingly” advanced toward him.

“After I spoke back to him, he took a swing at me,” Acevero wrote in the statement, adding that he plans to press charges against Renne.

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Acevero told Bethesda Today on Friday morning that he would have no comment beyond his statement.

In response to Acevero’s statement, Renne, 72, said he wears hearing aids and moved closer to Acevero to better hear him amid the commotion.

“I never swung on him,” Renne said of Acevero. “He caught me totally off-guard with a sucker punch.”

As of Friday morning, the complaint filed by Renne was not yet publicly available in online court records. The records also did not show whether Acevero had filed a complaint.

Gaithersburg police spokesperson Dan Lane told Bethesda Today on Thursday that officers responded at approximately 6 p.m. Thursday to a report of an assault at the Bohrer Park Activity Center, one of 14 early voting centers in the county.

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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.

No one was arrested in connection with the altercation, Lane said, but officers documented the incident in a police report. “All individuals involved in the incident were provided with a case number and were advised that, should they choose to do so, they may proceed to the District Court Commissioner’s Office to file charges,” Lane said.

Gilberto Zelaya, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Board of Elections, declined to comment on the incident Friday morning because it happened beyond the “no electioneering” zone. He said officials are focused on closing down early voting sites ahead of Election Day.

There is a history of bad blood between Renne and Acevero related to Acevero’s termination. In 2020, Acevero told The New York Times that Renne fired him 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. Renne has a background in law enforcement and corrections. MCGEO’s membership includes sheriff’s deputies and corrections officers.

Acevero, first elected in 2018, is seeking a third term in the state House of Delegates. In 2022 and again this year, his colleagues in District 39 opted to run as a slate without him.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine