Douglas Friend Gansler (born October 30, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 45th Attorney General of Maryland. Gansler previously served as the State's Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland, from 1999 to 2007. He won the state Democratic primary election for Attorney General and defeated Republican Scott Rolle in the 2006 general election, taking 61% of the vote. He was re-elected unopposed in the 2010 election. Gansler lost the Democratic Primary race for Governor of Maryland on June 24, 2014, to Anthony Brown, who went on to lose to Republican Larry Hogan. Early life, education, and legal career Born in Summit, New Jersey, Gansler grew up in Chevy Chase in Montgomery County, Maryland. There he attended Chevy Chase Elementary School, and Sidwell Friends School, a private Quaker school in the Washington, D.C., area, for grades 6–12. Gansler became involved with politics at 13, knocking on doors for Frank Mankiewicz, who was then running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Maryland's 8th congressional district. From Sidwell, Gansler went to Yale University. He was an All-Ivy, All–New England College lacrosse player, and nurtured an interest in public service, graduating cum laude. Gansler earned a J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He was a law clerk to Hon. John F. McAuliffe, Judge on the Maryland Court of Appeals. After working for a brief period as a real estate lawyer at a title company and at the law firms of Coburn & Schertler and Howrey & Simon, Gansler was hired as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, serving from 1992 to 1998. There he prosecuted, among others, a Georgian diplomat who killed a young woman while driving drunk near Dupont Circle. Political career State's Attorney for Montgomery County In 1998, Gansler was elected State's Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland, serving from January 1999 to January 2007. While serving, he prosecuted several high-profile cases, including the Beltway snipers, John Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo. Under his leadership, the office was the first in the nation to fully implement community prosecution. Gansler also launched innovative and successful programs to fight gangs, punish criminals, and protect the public, including the first domestic violence dockets and first drug courts in the county, a first-in-the-state gang prosecution unit, the first Elder Abuse Task Force in Maryland to target criminals preying on seniors, and the first Internet crime unit in the state. On