Running for Baltimore County office: A riverkeeper, 2 Gen Zers, the ‘Muslim Marine’ and more

The first council expansion since 1956, plus no incumbent county executive, brings out diverse field of candidates

When the Baltimore County Council voted to expand to nine members from seven, the hope was that it would lead to more diverse candidates — something that has happened.

Those running for council seats include several Black women, one Hispanic man, two candidates under age 30 and a riverkeeper who files lawsuits against polluters and state regulators.

The race for county executive is crowded, too. There’s no incumbent because Kathy Klausmeier, appointed to replace Johnny Olszewski Jr. when he was elected to Congress, has promised not to run.

Meanwhile, the county’s state’s attorney and several judges face contested races.

Here are key match-ups we’ll have our eye on before the June primary.

County Executive

Councilmen Izzy Patoka and Julian Jones both expressed interest in the race early, and the two west side Democrats have raised the most money. Both have actively protested ICE’s possible presence in the county and taken the lead on legislation to restrict operations.

Their colleague, Pat Young, is challenging them, as is financial attorney Nick Stewart, both of Catonsville. Mansoor Shams, who calls himself the Muslim Marine, just entered the race, too. A county parks department employee, he’s focused on affordability.

Expect the Democratic contest to be especially active on the county’s east side, where no candidate has a base and working-class Democrats are reliable voters.

Republican businessman Patrick V. Dyer, who has largely self-funded his campaign, is also running, as is Kimberley Stansbury, though Democratic voters outnumber Republicans 2-to-1. The last GOP candidate to win was Roger Hayden in 1990.

Lawyer Rob Daniels also filed to run and is not affiliated with a party.

County Council

In the county’s northern district, Republican Del. Nino Mangione gave up a relatively safe seat in the General Assembly to run for the County Council. He’s vying to replace Wade Kach, who is retiring and also served in the legislature.

Some district residents have been recruiting alternatives to Mangione, who comes from a prominent real estate family in the county. Last week, Gunpowder Riverkeeper and fly-fishing shop owner Theaux M. Le Gardeur threw his fisherman’s cap into the ring.

Le Gardeur, a Louisiana native and expert fisherman, founded the Gunpowder Riverkeeper organization to fight for clean water on the river that feeds Baltimore County’s drinking water reservoirs. Whereas Mangione is a conservative Republican who has introduced book bans and opposed gender-affirming care, Le Gardeur’s ideas revolve around protecting land and water. Those principles are important to rural North County voters, who are especially worried about housing encroaching on open space near the Pennsylvania line.

One of the two will face Shawn McIntosh, who emerged on the Democratic side months ago.

Other races to watch: Catonsville environmental activist and chef Paul Dongarra is seeking the Democratic seat in Council District 1. He’ll face Mandy Remmell, a community and neighborhood liaison during the Olszewski years, and N. Westcott V, who did not have a campaign website listed on the county elections site. Remmell has the backing of the Catonsville establishment, including former County Executive Don Mohler.

In the Democratic primary for Council District 2 on the west side, longtime educator and NAACP leader Danita Tolson and Hispanic activist Ruben Amaya, who is 24, are in the race, along with Tammy Soulama and Lawrence Williams. No information was available about Soulama and Williams at filing time.

Makeda Scott, the first Black woman to chair the Baltimore County Board of Education, faces four challengers in the Democratic primary for Council District 3: Mark Brewster, Regg J. Hatcher Jr., Linda Dorsey-Walker, and Tyrod Haynes. Haynes is also running for the Democratic Central Committee.

Karson B. Kamenetz, son of the late former County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, has been campaigning for the Council District 4 seat for months. The 24-year-old has two challengers: Gary Schuman and Aaron J. Barnett, a ship foreman with the International Longshoremans Association Local 333.

On the east side, outgoing Councilman Todd Crandell has endorsed businessman and civic leader J.D. Urbach, who is running in the Republican primary against Jake J. Mohorovic III and Tim Fazenbaker, who’s also running for the Republican Central Committee. On the Democratic side, Ed Crizer, Mark E. McCluskey and Arkia Wade are running. Crizer is also running for the Democratic Central Committee. A. Scott Pappas is running as an unaffiliated candidate. Shortly before the 9 p.m. deadline, more candidates filed: Democrat William Barrios, Republican Russ “No Tax” Mirabile and unaffiliated candidate Donna Eve Sekora.