Developers, lawyers, restaurateurs, labor unions, car dealers, venture capitalists and a strip club owner are among the donors who wrote the largest checks in the fiercely competitive — and wildly expensive — race for Baltimore County executive.
The five Democrats running in Tuesday’s primary hauled in $3.4 million through June 7, the latest campaign finance records show.
Baltimore County last elected a Republican as executive in 1990, so the Democratic primary winner is the likely favorite in November.
Money matters in elections because it buys television ads, mailers, signs, staff and consultants. It helps get a candidate’s message out. In tight local races with low turnout, it can tip the balance.
In Baltimore County, where questions have long been raised about backroom dealing and limited transparency, many believe money offers access to politicians and shapes decisions on development projects, zoning and budget priorities.
How the candidates financed their campaigns emerged as a campaign issue in Baltimore County and elsewhere in Maryland this year.
Councilmen Julian Jones and Izzy Patoka, along with attorney Nick Stewart, accepted money from individuals, businesses, PACs, labor unions and other candidates. State law places a $6,000 cap on contributions from any one donor in each four-year election cycle.
Councilman Pat Young ran a publicly financed campaign, abiding by stricter fundraising limits in exchange for taxpayer funds. Young’s campaign could accept contributions only from individuals, and no donor could exceed $250. He emphasized that to voters, saying he was beholden only to them.
Mansoor Shams, a county parks employee who joined the race in late January, also tried for public financing but did not raise enough to qualify.
The Banner analyzed thousands of campaign contributions and identified the donors who gave the $6,000 maximum to Jones, Patoka or Stewart, either in one lump sum or through multiple contributions this cycle, which began Jan. 1, 2023.
These donors made up about 4% to 5% of each campaign’s contributors but accounted for roughly one-quarter to one-third of total fundraising.
By comparison, small-dollar donors who gave up to $250 to those campaigns accounted for about half of all contributors but just 5% to 10% of money raised.
Julian Jones
The Banner identified 61 superdonors to the Woodstock Democrat’s campaign, including real estate developers Edward St. John; Scott Dorsey, CEO of Merritt Properties; and Greenberg Gibbons, a Baltimore-based firm.
St. John’s wife, former Fox45 anchor Jennifer St. John, also contributed $6,000. So did Lutherville Station LLC, which is trying to build a mixed-use development next to a Timonium light-rail stop amid fierce community opposition.
At least two family members and three businesses connected to Howard Perlow, an executive at the Owings Mills-based Residential Title & Escrow Company, gave maximum donations to Jones. Perlow hosts a poolside networking event in Las Vegas each spring during a real estate conference for Maryland developers, retailers, lawyers and politicians.
Jack Haden, owner of the waste management company Baltimore Recycling Center, also contributed $6,000 to Jones. Haden was the subject of a 2022 inspector general complaint alleging that a fundraiser he hosted for then-County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr. influenced the administration’s approval of a private waste transfer station, a proposal that was then tabled by the council.
Several other local businesses have supported Jones, including BKJ Inc., which operates The Millstream Inn, a Woodlawn strip club; three car dealerships connected to Len Stoler; and The Valley Inn, a Lutherville-Timonium restaurant operated by Atlas Restaurant Group.
Atlas CEO Alexander Smith, his wife, Christina Ghani, and the campaign of Baltimore City State’s Attorney Ivan Bates also wrote $6,000 checks to Jones.
Luca Amayo, a spokesperson for Jones’ campaign, said the median donation to Jones’ campaign was $200.
“Councilman Jones has won the widest range of support from every part of the county, and that’s people coming from all income levels,” Amayo said in a phone call.
Izzy Patoka
The Pikesville Democrat’s campaign has drawn contributions from 55 superdonors, with several involved in real estate.
Among them are developers Douglas Legum, Mark Sapperstein, Stephen Whalen and Greenebaum Enterprises. Perlow’s company, Residential Title & Escrow, also contributed the maximum amount.
Nicole Meyer, the sister of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, wrote Patoka a $6,000 check. The Kushners’ real estate firm once owned thousands of Baltimore-area apartments and townhomes. It has since sold off most of the complexes and agreed to pay a $3.25 million civil penalty over allegations of illegal fees and poor maintenance. The Kushners’ attorney said at the time that they accepted the fine “with no admission of liability or wrongdoing.”
Others who have backed Patoka include Richard Klein, an environmentalist and land-use consultant; former Congressman David Trone; his wife, June; one of Trone’s Total Wine stores; and Smith, the Atlas CEO.
The campaigns of Baltimore County Council candidate Karson Kamenetz and Baltimore City Councilman Yitzy Schleifer also gave Patoka maximum contributions. So has a Baltimore-based plumbers and steamfitters union.
Patoka agreed that a select few have long exerted outsized influence in the county. But he argued that his donors are contributing to him because they want to see change.
“Generally my large donors are those that have some level of dissatisfaction with oligarchs that have controlled Baltimore County for decades,” he said in a phone call.
Nick Stewart
A Catonsville-based business attorney, Stewart has often touted his campaign as “grassroots.” Over half of his donors have contributed $250 or less, according to The Banner’s analysis.
But those small-dollar donors account for about 10% of the money he’s raised. About a third of his fundraising came from 29 donors who gave maximum donations.
Among them were lawyers Jason St. John of Saul Ewing LLP and Michael Hardy of Duane Morris LLP, where Stewart is a partner. Stewart’s firm also gave a $6,000 contribution.
Stewart’s wife, Katie, along with his father and father-in-law, each donated $6,000. The Baltimore County police union, which endorsed Stewart, also gave the maximum amount.
Deborah and Frank Hemingway, along with their Baltimore-based venture capital firm Ecphora Capital, also supported Stewart. The firm invests in medical startups.
In a text message, Stewart said he supported public financing and would consider using it in the future. But he said the current system approved by the council in 2021 is too difficult to qualify for and underfunded.
“I’m proud that we, as an outsider campaign, were able to raise enough to compete with the old guard who’ve been bought and sold for a decade,” Stewart said.
Pat Young
The Catonsville councilman has received nearly $196,000 in taxpayer money through the county’s new public financing system after limiting the contributions he accepted to small-dollar donors. Around 58% of his contributions were $50 or less, according to The Banner’s analysis. The smallest donation was $1.
“The purpose of this campaign is to give regular people, for the first time in our local elections, an equal voice,” Young said in a statement. “No one interest or donor is able to tilt the scale.”
Though his contributions are capped at $250, Young has still received money from many of the same real estate donors backing his rivals.
Among those who contributed the maximum to Young were developers Anthony and Paul Giulio of Hill Management, Mark Renbaum of Lutherville Station LLC, Justin Rosemore of ARLS Properties, Whalen and Dorsey. Family members of Whalen and Renbaum also donated $250.
Other maximum donors include Timothy Regan, president and CEO of the construction firm Whiting-Turner Contracting Company, and real estate attorney Christopher Keelty.
Banner reporter Rona Kobell contributed to this story.
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