The Republican nominee vying to become Baltimore County’s next county executive promised voters a ‘revolutionary change in government’ if elected this November. Former Delegate Pat McDonough said he would fire the county police chief, sever ties with Baltimore City, and regain control over the school system curriculum. McDonough laid out his plans to a gathering of about a dozen people earlier this week at the Perry Hall Public library.

He claims Baltimore County is on the road to disaster with Democratic Incumbent Johnny Olszewski at the wheel.

“If I do not win this election, this county is going to be in serious trouble and irrecoverable, will never change,” McDonough said. “We will go down a road and a pathway that is unstoppable.”

McDonough said he plans to terminate Police Chief Melissa Hyatt, blaming her for a high crime rate. He said he will beef up the police force and crack down on lawbreakers.

“There will be no squeegee boys in Baltimore County,” McDonough said. “If you riot in one of our malls, there will be consequences.”

Earlier this year, six teenagers were arrested for fighting at Towson Town Center.

McDonough said he will control the school system by threatening to withhold funding. The county gives the public schools more than $2 billion each year.

“County Executive McDonough is going to be the new superintendent,” McDonough said. “You’ve gotta come to me for your budget. If I don’t want CRT in the school system, we’re going to pass a local ordinance that says no CRT.”

The moniker CRT stands for Critical Race Theory which focuses on the effect of racism on U.S. laws. It is not taught in any Maryland public schools.

McDonough also said he would ditch Olszewski’s executive order that bars the county police from asking anyone’s immigration status.

When it comes to Baltimore City, McDonough sees the municipality as a competitor, not a regional partner. He said he fears one day the county and city will merge.

“That’s where they’re headed,” McDonough said. “They’re already headed that way by unifying on certain issues.”

Olszewski counters that a strong Baltimore City helps the county.

Olszewski said McDonough has far-right extreme views and is out of touch with county voters.

“This is an opponent who has called the inner harbor a no-travel zone that’s been terrorized by Black youth mobs,” Olszewsi said. “This is someone who has tried very hard to be closely tied to the former president’s agenda about building walls as opposed to tearing them down. We’re about making progress and building bridges.”

Olszewski said McDonough is wrong about crime, and that the county is safe.

“Homicides are down more than 50 percent,” Olszewski said.

According to Baltimore County crime data, 40 people were murdered in the county in the first eight months of 2021 compared to 19 killed during the same time frame this year. Baltimore County’s murder rate was unusually high last year and included two mass shootings.

Olszewski added that other crimes that are down in the county include arson, burglary and rape.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Olszewski said. “His rhetoric doesn’t match the reality on the ground.”

But robbery has increased in the past year between January and August, from 423 to 479 cases, crime data shows.

Olszewski also challenged McDonough’s talk about the county executive gaining control of the school system, saying it is inconsistent with state law.

“We provide significant funding to the school system,” Olszewski said. “We certainly try to put our imprint on what happens but ultimately the school system is governed by a board of education.”

McDonough, who is 79, served two decades in the General Assembly, which he calls the General Asylum. He first ran for county executive in 2018 but lost the GOP primary to Al Redmer, Maryland’s Insurance Commissioner, who was endorsed by Gov. Larry Hogan.

McDonough fared better in July when he ran again and won the GOP primary, getting 40% of the vote in a six-way race.

McDonough lags far behind Olszewski in fundraising, which means he will struggle to get name recognition outside his political base, which is the conservative east side of the county, including Dundalk and Essex.

“On the west side and other areas, he’s just a rumor,” said John Dedie, political science professor at the Community College of Baltimore County. “The problem the McDonough campaign has is the lack of financial resources to really get on TV and do something.”

According to the most recent campaign financial disclosure forms, McDonough has just over $4,500 to spend. By comparison, Olszewski has nearly $1.9 million.

McDonough blames fellow Republicans, who want no part of his campaign, for his anemic fundraising.

“The Republican so-called leaders are selfish idiots,” McDonough said. “They’re establishment idiots.”

Several moderate Baltimore County Republican leaders declined to be interviewed about McDonough.

Anne Arundel County Republican Delegate Nic Kipke, the former house minority leader, said if elected, McDonough will be a populist county executive despite his reputation as a firebrand. Kipke cites McDonough’s vote to expand Medicaid to people in poverty while in the legislature.

“Pat wasn’t a party line Republican,” Kipke said. “He certainly was always putting the people first.”

Back at the library Jerome Rifkin, who lives in Perry Hall, liked what he heard from McDonough and plans to vote for him. Rifkin says he was a registered Democrat until about six years ago.

“I guess I became a fiscal conservative if there is such a thing, and my motto was don’t put your hand in my pocket,” Rifkin said.

McDonough criticizes Olszewski for raising the county’s income tax rate in 2019. Olszewski did it to plug an $81 million budget shortfall he inherited from his predecessor.

Deborah Hill, who organized the meet and greet for McDonough, said people need to hear what he has to say.

“The need to be given the choice,” Hill said. “Right now they don’t know they have a choice.”

McDonough said the November election will be a referendum on Olszewski, who he believes is unpopular. Time will tell how county voters, who are registered Democrats by a margin of more than two to one, take to McDonough’s message.

“In my opinion his chances are slim and none,” said political science professor Dedie. “And slim just left the building.”

Dedie said McDonough is not helped by Dan Cox being at the top of the ticket as the GOP Gubernatorial candidate, since both are right wing conservatives.

Dedie said Cox “isn’t going to help broaden Pat McDonough’s turnout.”

“I think we’re going to win,” McDonough said. “It’s going to be the biggest upset in the 2022 election. It’s going to scare a lot of people. It’s going to upset a lot of people who I want to upset.”