A vote will not be cast for more than a year, but the first candidate is officially in the 2026 race for Baltimore County Executive.
Councilman Pat Young, a Democrat, took aim at his fellow council members as he launched his campaign Thursday in Catonsville.
Young told the crowd of supporters that the county needs to get back to basics to help residents, no matter their zip code.
“For over a decade, I’ve been working to provide more opportunities to regular folks to engage with myself and those who were elected to work for them,” Young said. “But when I talk to neighbors about their experience with county government, the conversation is still charged with frustration and disappointment.”
In an interview afterwards, Young said in his two years on the County Council he has not seen an adult in the room, so he wants to provide a voice of reason as county executive.
“We are here to make sure that the institution that was created before we started is accessible and meaningful, and allows for everyone to have a way to play a role in it,” Young said.
Young’s signature legislation created a second public hearing for any bill that goes before the County Council. It also requires most amendments to legislation to be on the council’s website before a final vote. Before, council members were notorious for adding amendments at the last minute, just before voting on legislation.
Before being elected to the County Council in 2024, Young served eight years in the Maryland House of Delegates. Before that, he was in the United States Marine Corps.
“I joined in peacetime, during the summer of 2001,” Young said. “I concluded my training in wartime, after the terrorist attacks on September 11.
Young served two tours of duty in Iraq.
His campaign is receiving a helping hand from the organization VoteVets, which helps progressive veterans to get elected to public office.Travis Tazelaar, the political director for VoteVets, helped to organize Young’s campaign announcement.
Two other Council members, Julian Jones and Izzy Patoka, are expected to run as well, in what will likely be a crowded field vying for the Democratic nomination. Also considering a run are State Sen. Charles Sydnor and Nick Stewart, a former school board member and co-founder of We The People, which according to its website is a “good governance advocacy group.”
Jones and Patoka have raised more than $1 million for their campaigns. None of the others are close to that. Young has just over $227,000 on hand, according to a campaign finance report released last month.
“Baltimore County voters are smarter and it’s going to take more than just money to win this election,” Young said. It’s going to take a vision and also a message that connects with regular folks.”
Young’s home base is Catonsville where he grew up and serves as a County Councilman. Next month he will begin a series of town halls to meet people throughout the county. Those town halls will focus on veterans and seniors.
Young’s nine-year-old son Tristan introduced his father at Thursday’s announcement saying, “It wasn’t until he came to speak at my scout den that I understood what he did for work.”
