The following is a Benstorming commentary from Eastcountytimes.com
The County Council races in the new District 8 & 9 are busy as candidates are jumping in and out of these races.
With two days left until the filing deadline, we know that we have a Democrat and a Republican primary in District 9.
The Dundalk, Edgemere and Rosedale based district has received all the headlines for the JD Urbach and Tim Fazenbaker Republican primary while Arkia Wade was the only Democrat in the primary.
That has changed and the District 9 Democratic primary is filling up fast as Ed Crizer and Mark E. McCluskey filed on the Democratic side last week.
The District 8 Democratic primary has been set before the end of 2025 as Democrats Sharonda Dillard-Huffman and Jack Carmody filed before Jan. 1 and Crystal Cody entered the Democratic primary last week.
It appeared there would be a Republican primary in District 8 between Phillip DePalo and Josh Sines, but DePalo dropped out of the race and endorsed Sines last week. Sines is currently the only Republican in the race.
As I reported, both Districts appear to be competitive. A Republican would have beaten a Democrat a round 60/55 to 40/45 in 2022, which is much closer than projected District 6 (Democrat 66 to 33) & District 7 (Republican 66 to 33) races.
That is probably why the incumbents Councilman Mike Ertel (D-6) and Councilman David Marks (R-7) are the only candidates to file in their respective districts.
It will also be interesting to see if the Democrats can find an opponent to challenge Marks in the new District 7 and if a Republican will file to challenge Ertel.
There is also a possibility that a high-profile candidate could enter into the new District 9 race.
County Executive Race
The Democratic field is filled with current Councilmen Izzy Patoka, Julian Jones and Pat Young in the race, and Nick Stewart is a wild card for the Democrats.
The Republican field only has Patrick Dyer and Kimberly Stansbury in the contest. It’s a safe bet a few low-profile candidates will join the race, but could a high-profile Republican file before Tuesday’s deadline?
Pat McDonough ran in 2018 & 2022, Al Redmer ran in 2022, and State Sen. Chris West has been mentioned as a possible County Executive candidate.
If any of those Republicans jumped into the race, they would be favored to win the Republican nomination.
Running for office?
Eastcountytimes.com has ran articles about some candidates but not all. If you are running for office in eastern Baltimore County, you can email your information to eastcountytimes@gmail.com
