James Kitchin, the special assistant to Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman and a former public policy researcher, announced his candidacy to take over from his boss as the next county executive.

Kitchin, a former high school teacher, made his bid to replace the term-limited Pittman, a Democrat, in a news release Tuesday. Kitchin joined the Pittman administration in 2018 as community engagement officer before rising to senior management.

The Crofton resident is no stranger to Anne Arundel County electoral politics, having lost a bid for the District 7 council seat in 2018 to Jessica Haire, who went on to run for county executive before losing to Pittman in 2022.

Kitchin said he’ll run a grassroots campaign, much like he did as a political newcomer, and will continue to prioritize “kitchen table” issues such as affordable housing and the cost of living.

He also said he’ll focus on the pace of development, the environment and prioritize walkability, bikeability and use of public transit.

“Those things are going to be there [in 2026], but I’m going to be doing a whole lot of listening over the next year and a half before this primary,” Kitchin said. “I don’t have a whole laundry list just to tick off because it’s important to be in the community and meet people.”

Kitchin will be the first county executive candidate in Anne Arundel County history to run on the public campaign financing system. The voluntary system, which the County Council passed in 2023, allows candidates to fund their campaigns with public matching dollars. In order to be eligible, candidates cannot accept contributions of more than $250 or donations from special interest groups and must meet minimum standards of grassroots support.

“At a systems level, it will keep my administration focused on kitchen table issues for residents,” Kitchin said of his decision to use the public financing system. “Just keep the [issues] that residents care about most in the forefront of what the government is doing.”

Pittman said it was Kitchin who pushed him to adopt the new campaign financing system back in 2018 when he saw a need to push back against campaign contributions from donors who place “business before the county.”

Pittman said he intends to endorse Kitchin in the race.

“He has a breadth of knowledge that is hard to find in an applicant for a job like this,” Pittman said. “But he’s also somebody I trust because I’ve seen him under fire, I’ve seen him during COVID, and I have a lot of respect for him as a human being. I trust him with the future of the county because I share a lot of values with him.”

Kitchin is the second candidate to enter the race. He joins Allison Pickard, a Democrat who represents Millersville, Severn and Glen Burnie on the Anne Arundel County Council. Pickard announced her candidacy lastt month.

“I welcome the competition in the 2026 race for county executive,” Pickard wrote in a text message Wednesday.

Kitchin is a 2003 graduate of Arundel High School. In 2007 he graduated from Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego with a degree in business administration.

When asked what type of county executive Anne Arundel residents can expect him to be, Kitchin said “collaborative.”

“I grew up here and I’m raising my kids here. I want Anne Arundel County to remain a place where hopefully my wife and I will choose to retire,” Kitchin said. “I don’t think that can happen by accident — it’s going to take a lot of hard work. That, combined with the opportunity to use the public financing system, created a great set of opportunities to push issues forward.”

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