Baltimore County Councilman David Marks is withdrawing his proposal to change how vacancies are filled on the County Council. The Republican Councilman said his legislation received no support from his Democratic colleagues.

Marks said his proposal would have simplified how nominees are chosen. It also would have shifted the final decision from the county executive to the County Council.

Marks needed five votes on the seven member council to put the issue on the November 2026 ballot. He withdrew it after he could only get three, his and his fellow Republicans.

“What I was saying throughout this entire process is that the way we select council members, if there’s a vacancy is confusing and complicated,” Marks said. “We were simply trying to simplify it and also democratize the process.”

Marks said his Democratic colleagues rejected it because of

blowback from the party’s county’s central committee.

Council Chairman Mike Ertel, a Democrat, did not return a request for comment.

Council vacancies don’t happen very often. The last one was 40 years ago.

Meantime, Democratic Councilman Izzy Patoka said he will soon propose changing how a county executive vacancy is filled. He wants there to be a special election, depending on how much time is left on the executive’s unexpired term. The Council currently takes care of a county executive vacancy.

There have been two executive vacancies in the last seven years. Kevin Kamenetz died in office in 2018. Johnny Olszewski resigned in January with two years left on his term to take a seat in Congress.