Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski is closing in on raising $1 million in his race for Congress. No one else in the Democratic Primary for Maryland’s Second Congressional District even comes close.
One of Olszewski’s opponents knows she is going to lose and says it’s time to take a hard look at campaign finance and the inequalities baked into the U.S. political system.
Congressional candidate Sia Kyriakakos, working an early voting center in Timonium earlier this week, got some good news from voters Ellen Rappaport and Dori Gottfried, who said they had voted for her.
“That makes about 52 (votes) now,” Kyriakakos said. “I’m good.”
But she knows that’s not enough, that she doesn’t stand a chance against Olszewski’s well funded campaign.
Kyriakakos said, “I’m sort of like clear eyed about what’s going on here.”
She said she knows she’s connecting with issues voters care about, such as education, public safety, the economy and her support for women’s reproductive rights.
But money is what talks the loudest.
According to campaign finance reports dated April 24, Olszewski has raised more than $836,000. Kyriakakos has raised around $21,000.
Another candidate in the race, Del. Harry Bhandari, has raised more than $180,000.
Roger Hartley, the Dean of the College of Public Affairs at the University of Baltimore, said while it is difficult to win a congressional seat with little money, there’s more to it than that.
“It’s not money on its own that gets someone elected to Congress or the U.S. Senate,” Hartley said. “It’s really important to say this. It’s what the money buys. You need to have name recognition. You need to build supporters. You need to be able to let people know what your message is.”
Olszewski has that advantage as well. His name recognition comes from spending more than eight years in the state legislature and from being county executive for the past five and a half years.
“I’ve been very present in the community,” Olszewski said. “I’ve been very active in meeting the needs of our residents here. So absolutely, campaigns are not the only way through which one can or should be connected to the communities that they serve or aspire to serve.”
Kyriakakos said she brings the goods to represent Maryland’s Second Congressional District. She’s been teaching in the Baltimore City Schools for 13 years and was state teacher of the year in 2017. She also is a Fulbright Scholar.
Kyriakakos wants there to be spending caps in congressional races. She said grassroots candidates with little money should be able to get public financing in order to level the playing field.
“It’s a race about who has the most money and it shouldn’t be about that,” she said. “It should be about who is the best candidate, who represents our people the best way.”
Olszewski said he would support public financing for Congressional campaigns. He put that in place for local races in Baltimore County, beginning in 2026.
Olszewski said, “We think that these systems allow for more women and candidates of color to run and be successful.”
But Dean Hartley cautions that public financing might not be the answer in a Congressional race. In the Second Congressional District, for example, you have to be able to reach voters spread out over most of Baltimore and Carroll Counties and a portion of Baltimore City.
“That public financing would need to be of a magnitude to where it was enough for a person to get their name recognition out,” Hartley said.
Looking past the May primary, Kyriakakos plans to run for another office. Meanwhile, her shoestring campaign for Congress rolls on. A cousin in New Jersey made her t-shirts. Friends created her pamphlet and logo.
“We need to stir stuff up for the better,” she said.
Early voting is over in Maryland. The state primary is May 14.
The second district is an open seat because Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger is retiring.
