Baltimore County Councilman Pat Young has become the first official candidate for county executive in next year’s election.

“I’m running for county executive in Baltimore County not because of who we were or because of who we are, but because of everything in this world we have the potential to be,” Young, 41, said Thursday in Catonsville.

Young, a Democrat who has represented District 1 in southwestern Baltimore County for the last two years, is an Iraq War veteran who attended Towson University on the GI bill. He served as a state delegate from 2015 to 2022, where he largely focused on budget and veterans’ issues as a member of the Appropriations Committee.

As county executive, Young said he would govern based on “empathy, kindness and understanding.” He believes bureaucracy at the county level has frustrated residents and vowed to take a “back to basics” approach on regulation and permitting processes.

Young launched his campaign in front of his alma mater, Woodbridge Valley Elementary School, and focused on the theme of “beginnings.” His speech out in the rain was prefaced by brief remarks from former Woodbridge Valley principal Dan Capozzi, former Annapolis staffer Ben Clark, and his 9-year-old son, Tristan Young.

“He’s a very hard worker, has a lot of skill and intelligence,” Tristan said of his father, charming the crowd. “I would like to say he is moving onto a new era and he will be working very, very hard for our county.”

Other potential candidates

The 2026 campaign for Baltimore County executive is heating up just months after the council selected Kathy Klausmeier to complete the term left vacant by former executive Johnny Olszewski’s election to Congress. Klausmeier, 75, has pledged not to run for a full term in 2026.

Besides Young, two other Democratic councilmen — Izzy Patoka, of District 2, and Julian Jones, of District 4 — are widely expected to run. Patoka told The Sun that “not a day goes by” without someone encouraging him to run, while Jones said he remained focused on addressing “irresponsible upheaval in Washington that is threatening hundreds of jobs in our community.”

State Sen. Charles Sydnor and Nick Stewart, co-founder of progressive advocacy group We The People, have also considered running as Democrats.

Recent campaign financial disclosures show Patoka and Jones with account balances of $1.3 million and $1 million, respectively. Young and Sydnor had balances of just $228,000 and $110,000, respectively.

The 2026 election will be the first to feature public financing in Baltimore County, meaning a candidate can receive up to $750,000 in public contributions for both the primary and general elections. Candidates who opt for public contributions can also expend a limited amount of money from their citizen-funded campaign accounts — no more than $1.4 million for a primary and $1.4 million for a general election.

To qualify for matching public funds, a candidate must receive at least 550 contributions and $50,000 in qualifying contributions.

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