Voters Head To Polls To Elect New Baltimore Co. Exec.
BALTIMORE CO., Md. (WJZ) -- Baltimore County voters are choosing a new county executive. Former county executive Kevin Kamenetz was term-limited and running for governor when he died suddenly last month.
A new Baltimore Sun/University of Baltimore poll shows state Sen. Jim Brochin in the lead in the Democratic primary race.
Brochin, County Councilmember Vicki Almond and former state delegate John Olszewski Jr. are running first, second and third, respectively, in the Democratic primary race for Baltimore County executive.
All three candidates are running campaign ads in the race to lead Maryland's third most populous county.
In a WJZ candidates forum, which included Republican primary candidate Pat McDonough, Brochin and Almond clashed over what the senator calls "pay-to-play politics" -- an issue Brochin believes is why he's polling in first place.
"We're pleased," Brochin told wjz. "We think our message is catching on. The more I talk about pay-to-play politics in Baltimore County and there's two sets of rules, one set of rules for developers and one set of rules for everybody else, people seem to agree."
The Sun poll puts Brochin at 30 percent, Almond at 22 percent and Olszewski at 14 percent.
Almond says hers are quality of life issues.
"Public safety, and um, you know, economic development where we need to create that tax base in order to do the schools and give our police officers, firefighters and EMTs the resources they need to move forward," Almond said.
Olszewski, while in third place, has won the endorsement of The Sun. His is an education platform.
"I'm hoping that once we're elected, an Olszewski administration can turn the page and get to work to make our schools the best they possibly can be," he said.
The winner will face a Republican opponent.
In a two-way race in the Republican primary, state delegate McDonough leads insurance commissioner Al Redmer 39 to 34 percent.
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