Incumbents fare well in Baltimore County
Democrats poised to retain 2 open seats on County Council
Baltimore County’s top prosecutor and county executive each won reelection decisively Tuesday night, results show.
County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. told supporters at an election night party he “fully” expected to win his race against an opponent who promised to undo much of his work. He had nearly 60% of the votes, with all the precincts reporting.
“I am grateful for and humbled by your overwhelming support, Baltimore County,” wrote Olszewski, a Democrat, in a tweet Wednesday morning. “Thank you so much. Together, let’s continue to do big things.”
Challenger Pat McDonough, a Republican, told The Baltimore Sun he expected Olszewski would win, but he didn’t plan to stop his advocacy efforts.
At the end of Election Day, about 63,000 mail-in ballots were left to be counted in the county. But in the county races, fairly wide margins separated winners and losers.
State’s Attorney Scott Shellenberger, who first won office in 2006, gathered about 60% of votes cast against Jim Haynes, his Republican challenger. Shellenberger said Haynes had called to concede. The Democratic incumbent said he was waiting for all the votes to be counted but feels “very positive.”
The results showed Democrats with strong leads for the Baltimore County Council’s two open seats, both of which were vacated by Democrats. In both races, the Republican candidates conceded Tuesday night. The remaining incumbents on the council defeated their challengers, each garnering more than 60% of the vote.
The results leave the balance of power unchanged on the council, where Democrats hold a 4-3 majority. The council will be all-male for the first time in over a decade, even after the county’s redistricting process brought forward calls for more diversity on the seven-member body.
In District 1, the seat vacated by Councilman Tom Quirk, Del. Pat Young had 64% of the vote to 36% for his his opponent Al Nalley.
In an interview, Nalley, a Catonsville retiree, said he called Young to concede the race Tuesday night. He said he suspects the top-ticket Democrats in Maryland, who won their statewide races, “raised the tide” for local Democrats, like his opponent Young. “I thought it’d be a lot closer,” Nalley said. Young said he was “humbled” by the results. He’d been hoping to see his percentage in the 60s, he added.
“I’m glad that a new area of southwest Baltimore County has put their trust in me,” he said.
In District 6, the seat vacated by Councilwoman Cathy Bevins, Towson community activist Mike Ertel had 66% of the vote, compared to 34% for Towson University political science professor Tony Campbell.
Campbell said he reached out to Ertel on Tuesday night to concede the race.
“When you put eight months into something it never feels great,” Campbell said of the outcome. “But we talked about issues that were important, and I know a couple things that we brought up Mike came along and decided to agree.”
The two agreed on proposals like expanding the county council by two members.
The two were locked in a fairly tight fundraising race, but Ertel emerged victorious in the district, altered by this year’s redistricting process to include Towson, previously part of District 5.
Olszewski has said he wants to build on his first term’s track record, including affordable housing efforts and a holistic approach to public safety that sends funding to schools, mental health services and parks, in addition to traditional law enforcement.
McDonough, a former state delegate, campaigned on dismantling those initiatives. The Republican said he would fire the police chief, sue the county school system and push back on a federal settlement that mandates more affordable housing units.
He told The Sun on Tuesday night that Olszewski’s apparent victory was “just how it turned out,” but stressed he would continue to be a “watchdog” on campaign issues including violence in schools.
Shellenberger, 63, the county’s longtime top prosecutor, faced a challenge from Haynes, a 72-year-old former federal administrative judge. Both men agreed on an aggressive approach for the office, believing prosecutions curb crime.
Shellenberger drew questions after he took time off after July’s primary, where he survived vigorous opposition. But Shellenberger said he plans to serve all four years of a possible fifth term.
He said Tuesday night he believed election results showing him in the lead were an indication that voters like the way he runs the office. Still, he said, he has an “open mind” about the way things are done and how different kinds of cases are handled.
This year’s election followed a bitter redistricting battle in the county. The council’s initial attempt at a new map faced a legal challenge from civil rights groups, who argued that the county’s growing minority population necessitated a second majority-Black district.
A federal judge ruled that the county had to redraw its map, but not necessarily with such a district. The court ruled the map must include a second district with a racial balance providing Black voters “an opportunity to elect a representative of their choice.”
The approved map included one majority-Black district, District 4, and increased the Black population included in District 2 from 29.5% to more than 41%.
The new map also altered districts that would become key battlegrounds with the departure of Bevins and Quirk. District 6 was drawn to include downtown Towson, previously part of District 5. That moved Ertel, who previously squared off unsuccessfully against Councilman David Marks, into the open seat vacated by Bevins. The redistricting process surfaced calls to add as many as four more seats to the council as a result of the county’s growing population. Advocates say opening up new seats could diversify the council, and would ensure that each councilperson represents fewer constituents.