Slew of Republicans vie for Baltimore County exec, while Olszewski waits

Roadsides near Middle River, like others around Baltimore County, have been dotted with signs from the crowded race for county executive: signs promoting the re-election of Johnny Olszewski, a Democrat, but also signs representing the roster of Republicans aiming to flip the script in the decidedly blue county.

Last month the lone political veteran in the race, former Maryland state delegate and conservative radio personality Pat McDonough, was condemned by the county Republican Central Committee for allegedly stealing a sign of his opponent, Darren Badillo. McDonough has been charged with one count of misdemeanor theft, but has vociferously denied the allegation and filed a complaint with the Maryland State Board of Elections accusing Badillo of sign tampering.

“I have big signs. I don’t have these little baby, $1 signs that Darren’s talking about,” said McDonough in a recent interview, explaining there would be no reason for him to take the sign of a trailing candidate, much less one so much smaller than his own. “I’ve got three by four signs and three by five signs.”

Arguments over signs are a sideshow for Baltimore County Republicans, who haven’t won a race for county executive since 1990. Four years ago Olszewski defeated Al Redmer, a candidate endorsed by GOP Gov. Larry Hogan, by more than 50,000 votes. This time around, Olszewski is facing token resistance in the primary and likely will start the general election campaign with more than $1.9 million banked — enough to buy very large signs.

In addition to Badillo and McDonough, the crowded field of Republicans vying for Baltimore County executive includes Henry Ciezkowski, an Edgemere food service worker and Marine Corps veteran; Thilo Gluck, a German-born contractor and businessman, who declined to make himself available for an interview; Kimberley Stansbury, who is pursuing public office after years of service on PTA and other volunteer positions; and A. Scott Pappas of Fort Howard, who has campaigned on a single-issue platform to combat overcrowding in county schools.

The Baltimore Banner 2022 Maryland Voter Guide

All are running shoestring operations. Badillo leads the pack in fundraising, at over $15,500 in total contributions, while campaign finance reports show that Olszewski has spent orders of magnitude more in his race than the combined fundraising of the GOP field.

“The winner of the primary has no shot in hell,” said John Dedie, a political science professor at Community College of Baltimore County. Most of the candidates in the Republican field are newcomers with little name recognition, he noted. The 78-year-old McDonough, meanwhile, is a well-known politician but a conservative hardliner — “Trump before Trump” — whose proposals will struggle to find traction in convincingly blue Baltimore County, the professor said.

For Republicans voters in Baltimore County, the primary likely isn’t a chance to pick their next county executive, Dedie said. It’s almost going to be a race to find a candidate “who won’t embarrass the party and be a drag on the ticket.”

Crime, schools and development

Republicans looking for the chance to take on Olszewski, the son of a former county councilmember, have made the case that Baltimore County residents are fed up with current leadership — dismayed by high crime, an understaffed police department, unbridled development and overcrowded schools.

Critics of Olszewski have accused the former school teacher of providing special treatment to developers, allowing for expansive building and housing growth amid the county’s swelling population. Earlier this month, the county’s inspector general found that Olszewski appeared to help a wealthy developer accelerate key zoning approvals, despite opposition from the permits department, in order to build an indoor tennis facility. The facility has not been built.

Crime has also dominated campaign platforms and candidate pledges. Several in the GOP field, including Badillo, McDonough, Ciezkowski and Stansbury, have plans to oust Baltimore County Police Chief Melissa Hyatt upon getting into office. Though Olszewski has touted drops in some crime metrics, the county recorded its highest-ever number of homicides in 2019 — 49 — and then again in 2021 with 55. Like many jurisdictions nationally, it has struggled to retain police officers.

For McDonough, a long career in Maryland politics lends him the clear advantage when it comes to tackling the county’s growing pains. The 78-year-old, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for county executive in 2018, said he would come into office with a wealth of experience, while his primary opponents would be on “training wheels” for four years.

Under Olszewski, Baltimore County has seen increased spending, higher taxes and growing bond debt, budgetary trends that McDonough said he would reverse in office. He laid out plans to restrict immigration into the county and apply tough-on-crime standards that could subject perpetrators of homicide and violent crimes to the death penalty.

McDonough also bemoaned that Badillo’s insistence on pursuing charges over the sign controversy has shifted the focus of the Republican race off important policy debates. The former radio host has maintained that he had found the Badillo sign on top of a damaged sign of his own and “impounded” it for evidence. He dismissed his party’s decision to condemn him as one of a “lynch mob, kangaroo court.”

Meanwhile, “there’s a lot of dissension about Johnny Olszewski,” McDonough said. People want to hear about crime and education, housing and deteriorating neighborhoods. “They don’t want to be distracted by a debate about a two dollar sign.”

Badillo named a host of issues where he said current leaders in Baltimore County have fallen short, among them the ongoing pollution problems at the city-operated Back River Wastewater Treatment Plant, on the eastern edge of the county.

Public safety, education and mental health are all priority pillars of Badillo’s campaign, he said. And a lack of communication and coordination between developers and school officials has contributed to the overdevelopment straining county systems, Badillo said — all while crime has surged in the county in recent years.

“How can we continue to build and flood our county, when we can’t even protect our residents that we have now?” he asked.

Stansbury has similarly emphasized crime and overcrowding in public schools as pressing issues for the county. The self-described “mama bear”-turned-politician emphasized the importance of community bonding and civic engagement at the ballot box.

“It’s anyone’s race,” she said. “I think people just need to focus on who best aligns with what they feel is right. The important thing is for people to go out and vote.”

Ciezkowski, also a first time candidate, said he decided to get into the fray after growing frustrated with county leadership. McDonough may have the biggest name in the primary, he said, but the voters don’t want to elect the same familiar faces into office.

“It’s gonna be a new face that beats Johnny Olszewski, and I believe I’m the strongest candidate to beat him,” he said.

Ciezkowski has stressed the need for more community input in housing development and argued that the county is on a dangerous road if it can’t find ways to keep its police force in tact. “‘A Vote For Me Is A Vote Against Crime!!!,‘” his campaign website proclaims.

“We’re gonna end up like Baltimore City. And I don’t want that to happen,” he said.

But even as many of the newcomers in the GOP primary have expressed optimism about the Republican push in Baltimore County, one candidate was openly skeptical.

“I guess you’ve figured out nobody’s qualified to be county executive,” Pappas said as the opening to a phone interview. It’s not clear if he was serious. “I wouldn’t look twice at my resume if I was trying to be county executive.”

Pappas has focused his candidacy around overcrowding in Baltimore County schools, running a minimally resourced campaign in hopes of drawing more attention to the strains on teachers and students.

Pappas likened the odds of defeating Olszewski in 2022 to “the statistical chances of getting hit by lightning” and pointed to the Democrat’s trouncing of Redmer four years ago as evidence that even established, well-financed Republicans would struggle to make inroads in the county.

“Think about that for a second,” Pappas said. “I could spend the entire national fortune on this and not win.”

Narrow victory to big favorite

Olszewski declined to specifically discuss the bevy of Republicans trying to take his job and said he’s focused on doing the work of county executive and proving to voters that he deserves another term.

His challenger in Tuesday’s primary is Adam Reuter, who has worked in the county school system and for the Social Security Administration. Reuter is critical of the county’s response to COVID and wants to improve schools. In the latest filing, his campaign reported $9.44 in its account.

“I welcome it because it’s an opportunity to keep telling our story, and I’m confident in November voters will see we have in fact delivered on the promises made four years ago,” Olszewski said in an interview.

For Olszewski’s rival of four years ago, the GOP field for county executive represents a missed opportunity.

Jim Brochin opposed Olszewski on the Democratic ticket in 2018, coming just 17 votes shy of the party nomination. Considered a conservative Democrat, Brochin was among the names discussed as a possible crossover challenger to Olszewski on this year’s GOP ticket, and the former state senator said some more centrist Republicans could have given the incumbent a run for his money.

As it stands, McDonough will have no problem wrapping up the Republican nomination, Brochin predicted. But the former radio host’s focus on red-meat conservative issues, like immigration, will make him look like “a right wing whack job” in the general.

“Johnny could go on vacation until November and still win,” Brochin said.

Still, members of the Republican field said they aren’t worried about Olszewski’s deep-pocketed campaign. Olszewski is out of touch with urgent Baltimore County concerns, Badillo said, and an underdog candidate would be primed to take him down.

“It’s happened other places. I believe it can happen here,” he said. “I believe the red wave will hit Baltimore County.”

Reporter Pamela Wood contributed to this story.

adam.willis@thebaltimorebanner.com

Read more:

• After redistricting lawsuit, Black candidates are running for council seats across Baltimore County
• Baltimore County state’s attorney primary a choice about what kind of crime should be prosecuted
• The Baltimore Banner 2022 Maryland Voter Guide

Adam Willis

adam.willis@thebaltimorebanner.com

Adam Willis covers city government for The Banner, including the impacts of the large COVID-19 stimulus package that Baltimore received from the federal government.

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