The following is a Benstorming commentary about all the local races in the upcoming 2026 Elections for the House of Delegates, state Senate, County Council and School Board
As Eastcountytimes.com reported, the filing deadline has passed and we have our races for County Council, House of Delegates, state Senator and School Board.
So who are the favorites? That’s an easy answer- all the incumbents. However; there are interesting races with open seats in two County Council races.
Here is a look:
County Council Districts 8 & 9
We know that Democratic Councilman Mike Ertel and Republican Councilman David Marks are easily favored to get reelected in District 6 & 7, but Districts 8 & 9 are the races to watch with two open seats and a competitive Democrat-Republican ratio.
State Senate and House of Delegates
The state Senate and House of Delegates races probably won’t be competitive. District 6 & District 7 are gerrymandered towards Republicans and District 8 is gerrymandered towards Democrats so don’t expect any upsets in the General Election.
With all incumbents seeking reelection, it will be hard to defeat a sitting elected official in a Democratic/Republican primary, but there are two wildcards.
Marsha Briley-Savage and Henry Ciezkowski
Marsha Briley-Savage has been running a strong campaign in District 8 as a Democrat. Since Delegate Kim Ross was appointed and not elected, could Briley-Savage upset Ross in the primary?
Ross was appointed over Briley-Savage by the Democratic Central Committee when Carl Jackson’s seat became vacant last year.
Henry Ciezkowski was an unknown candidate in the 2022 County Executive GOP race and finished third in that year’s primary with his work ethic. The Edgemere resident was spotted at events on the west side of Baltimore County and was knocking on doors in northeastern Baltimore County.
Now he only has to focus on Dundalk, Essex and Edgemere in District 6. The problem for Ciezkowski is the Republican Delegates Robin Grammer, Bob Long and Ric Metzgar are well known in District 6 and are all seeking a fourth term.
I’m not predicting Briley-Savage and/or Ciezkowski to win a primary seat, but I think they can be competitive.
District 6 School Board race
Another candidate from the 2022 County Executive race is Darren Badillo and he is running for school board in District 6 (Parkville, Overlea and Rosedale.)
Can Badillo take advantage of his name ID and experience from 2022 Election to upset current board member Christina Pumphrey?
