Howard County Executive Race: Councilwomen Make Final Push

Howard County’s Democratic primary for county executive has turned into a high-stakes contest over who really understands the books and who can steer the next decade of school and housing decisions. Two sitting council members, Deb Jung and Liz Walsh, are closing out the race by leaning hard on their experience, hometown roots, and records of getting things done, and with no Republican on the ballot, the June 23 primary is likely to decide the next county executive.

According to CBS Baltimore, Jung and Walsh have been knocking on doors across Howard County and centering their pitch on school funding, affordability, and resistance to federal immigration enforcement efforts. The station reports that both councilmembers have nearly a decade on the County Council and are making that tenure a central argument for why they are ready for the top job.

Public financing vs. private money

Both Jung and Walsh are participating in Howard County’s Citizens’ Election Fund, which matches small local donations and blocks PACs, corporations, and party money from their campaigns, according to the Maryland State Board of Elections' Citizens’ Election Fund summary guide for Howard County. Maryland Matters notes that former state Del. Vanessa Atterbeary is the lone candidate in the field who has declined public financing and has instead assembled a much larger, privately funded campaign war chest.

Experience and the school pitch

Jung has been telling voters that “no one knows the county’s budget as well as she does,” arguing that real fluency with the numbers is essential for being able to lead on day one. Walsh has been more pointed about outcomes, telling reporters that she has “actually delivering money back to our schools, $38 million just in this last calendar year,” language first reported by CBS Baltimore. Both are stressing deep local ties: Jung is reminding residents of her nearly four decades living in the county and years of volunteering in its schools, while Walsh is highlighting her civil engineering background as proof that she approaches problems like a builder who has to make the plans work in real life.

Field and timeline

The primary is scheduled for June 23, with early voting beginning June 11, and four Democrats are on the ballot: former Del. Vanessa Atterbeary, businessman Bob Cockey, and councilmembers Jung and Walsh. WMAR-2 News lays out the full field and the timeline, and Maryland’s State Board of Elections maintains the official candidate list for the 2026 primary.

For a lot of Howard County voters, the decision is shaping up as a choice between continuity from the council chamber or a different style of leadership from the statehouse or private sector. Fundraising strategy, public matching dollars versus a sizable privately financed campaign, has become shorthand for that contrast, according to coverage by Maryland Reporter, and will likely be a major factor as ballots are cast this month.