Julian Jones wins Democratic nomination for Baltimore County executive

Baltimore County Councilman Julian Jones has won the Democratic primary for Baltimore County executivee.

As of Saturday evening, Jones maintained a commanding lead over his nearest rival, fellow councilman Izzy Patoka. Though Patoka had hoped to make up ground with mail-in ballots, Jones remained comfortably ahead after all early votes, Election Day ballots and nearly 28,000 mail ballots had been counted.

“I’m deeply honored that the people of this county have given me this historic opportunity to serve,” Jones said on Saturday. “I look forward to earning the trust of voters across Baltimore County this November so that, together, we can begin building a county that is safer, more affordable and more prosperous for every family.”

The final margin will be determined when the election is certified July 6.

Patoka texted Jones around 6:30 p.m. to concede.

“You are the democratic nominee for county executive,” Patoka said in the text, “and I will support you in your efforts to win the general election.”

Jones, a retired firefighter who has served on the council for 12 years, will likely become the first Black man to hold the office since it was created in 1956. The current executive, Kathy Klausmeier, is the first woman to hold the position; she was appointed to finish the term of Johnny Olszewski, who won a seat in Congress. All of the previous elected county executives have been white men.

D’Andrea Walker served in an acting capacity for a few days before Klausmeier was sworn in and after Olszewski left.

Jones held a large lead in the race Tuesday night, after early votes, Election Day votes and some mail-in ballots had been counted. But he held off on declaring victory because the Maryland State Board of Elections had to count about 30,000 outstanding mail-in ballots. Patoka had been doing well with mail-in votes but not well enough to overcome the large deficit.

In Baltimore County, Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1. Only two Republicans have ever held the office — Spiro Agnew in 1962 and Roger Hayden in 1994. Both served one term. Jones will face Republican Pat Dyer in the November general election.

Flanked by U.S. Reps. Kweisi Mfume and Olszewski, along with many other elected officials and friends, Jones was jubilant at a watch party Tuesday night as the vote count went in his favor.

“I stand before you today just humbled because there are those who thought this could not happen,” Jones said.

He added: “I will not disappoint you. I will continue as I have done for the last 12 years. I wake up every day and go to sleep every night thinking about how I can make your lives better and lives better for your children and your family.”

Jones was buoyed in recent weeks by the endorsement of Gov. Wes Moore, whose support seemed to coalesce majority-Black precincts behind the west side Democrat. Nearly all of the candidates Moore endorsed triumphed in this election.

Patoka’s campaign manager, Jarid Matthews, said a mishap with mail-in ballots confused voters and cut into Patoka’s totals. The Maryland Board of Elections sent out 400,000 ballots, then told everyone to throw them out because it was sending new ballots.

Matthews called that a debacle that hurt many candidates. Voters were confused; some decided not to vote, or they misplaced the correct ballot and didn’t know what to do.

In addition to Patoka, Jones faced three other opponents for the Democratic nomination – Councilman Pat Young, former school board member Nick Stewart and county employee Mansoor Shams.

Patoka and Jones were the two main contenders, having each raised more than $1 million. But Stewart proved a formidable challenger, forcing the three councilmen to defend their records and promising systemic change. Patoka came in second, Stewart finished a distant third, and Young and Shams were well behind.

In his time on the council, Jones has championed social justice issues. He helped institute free lunches for all Baltimore County children, police reforms in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder and curbs on the power of immigration enforcement officials in the county.

Jones is arguably the council’s most pro-housing and pro-growth candidate, often stating he knows of family members and friends who move to neighboring areas because they cannot afford Baltimore County.

Banner reporters Danny Zawodny and Sapną Bansil contributed to this article.

This article has been updated.