The next Baltimore County Executive will be chosen by seven men.
Johnny Olszewski is headed to Congress after his win Tuesday in Maryland’s 2nd Congressional District race. He will resign as county executive with two years remaining on his second four-year term.
It falls to the Baltimore County Council to pick his successor.
Baltimore County Council Chairman Izzy Patoka, a Democrat, said the search will begin immediately.
“In the next day or two you’ll see a portal on the County Council website,” Patoka said.
Anyone interested in applying for the county’s top job will need to use that portal to submit a letter of interest, a resume and a financial disclosure.
“Then we’re likely to have a public hearing in early December and we’ll take it from there,” Patoka said.
If the next county executive is not chosen before Olszewski leaves office, County Administrative Officer D’Andrea Walker will fill in until the council acts.
According to the county charter, the next county executive must be a qualified voter in the county and be at least 25 years old. The next executive also has to have lived in the county at least five years.
Since Olszewski is a Democrat, his successor must be from the same party.
A number of people have already expressed interest in the job.
Council members want the person to be a “caretaker” county executive who will agree to do the job for two years then not run for a full term in 2026.
That’s because at least two members of the council, Patoka and fellow Democrat Julian Jones, have expressed an interest in running in 2026. They do not want to compete with a sitting county executive.
When asked about stepping down at his election night party Tuesday, Olszewski said that moment was about celebrating his victory in the race for Congress.
He added that the next two months will be a combination of preparing for his new role in Congress, while helping the next county executive to take over.
“The benefit is they’ll have someone who’s literally doing the job now,” Olszewski said. “In theory we’ll have some amount of time depending on the council’s timeline.”
