Baltimore County Council has begun considering applicants for the soon-to-be-vacant County Executive seat.
In light of Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s recent election to Congress, the Baltimore County Council has begun considering applications for the soon-to-be vacant County Executive seat. County Executive Olszewski is expected to resign before being sworn into Congress in early January, leaving roughly two years remaining in the current term. On December 10th, the County Council will hold a public forum for constituents to testify on the qualifications they want to see in a new County Executive. Endorsements for any specific candidate are prohibited at the forum.
According to Maryland Matters,
The list of applicants seeking to succeed Olszewski include:
Jim Brochin — He served four terms in the Maryland Senate before opting to run for Baltimore County Executive in 2018. He lost to Olszkewski by nine votes in the Democratic primary that year.
Jon Cardin — He served twice in the House of Delegates, first from 2003-2015. He opted in 2014 to run for attorney general but lost in the primary that year to Brian Frosh. He returned to the House in 2018 and won re-election in 2022. He is the nephew of outgoing U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin.
Yara Cheikh — Current president of the Baltimore County Library Board of Trustees. She is also a community activist who was involved in an effort to add elected members to the Baltimore County School Board.
Gregory Dennis — Is a pastor at Kingdom Worship Center who has never held elected office.
Paul Drutz-Hannahs — Is a comedian.
Tara Ebersole — A former biology professor and college administrator as well as the former chair of the Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee. She is also an illustrator. She is the wife of Del. Eric Ebersole (D-Baltimore County).
William Huhn — A financial planning specialist and executive at Morgan Stanley Financial with no experience in elected office.
Kathy Klausmeier — A state senator since 2003, she is the vice chair of the Senate Finance Committee. She also served eight years in the House of Delegates.
Aris Melissaratos — Served as the secretary of the Department of Business and Economic Development under former Gov. Robert Ehrlich. Also a former executive at St. Johns Properties.
George Perdikakis Sr. — Served 15 years as the head of Baltimore City’s transportation department before he was tapped in 1987 to run the quasi-public Maryland Environmental Service. He left that organization eight years later to head the Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management during Ruppersberger’s tenure as county executive.
Barry Williams — Served as director of two Baltimore County agencies: the Baltimore County Department of Recreation and Parks and the Department of Workforce Development. He is the brother of House Speaker Adrienne Jones.
Tom Quirk — A three-term county council member who served from 2010-2022. He also served three times as the council president, a position elected from among the seven council members.
