3 independent council candidates make it onto the Baltimore County general election ballot

After rushing to lock down 6,000 signatures by Monday — equal to 1% of registered Baltimore County voters — only half of the independent candidates who initially filed to run for office in the county will be on November’s ballot.

County Council hopefuls Joseph “Joe” Hooe, Cory Shaffer and Donna Eve Radtke Sekora are running unaffiliated with either party to represent southwestern, northern and eastern Baltimore County, respectively.

Rob Daniels, a Pikesville attorney who mounted an independent campaign for county executive, failed to submit his petition by the Aug. 3 deadline, according to the state’s board of elections.

And Dana Robinson, the independent candidate running to become Baltimore County sheriff, also won’t be on the ballot.

“Independents are used to being that quiet member of the choir who are called out at the end to swing an election,” Daniels told The Banner in April. “Motivating those independent voters has been a bit more challenging than I initially expected.”

The 53-year-old acknowledged that he did not meet Monday’s deadline but suggested that his movement is only beginning.

“I’m weighing every option and will decide in the coming days whether this campaign continues in a different — and more aggressive — form,” Daniels wrote in a statement. “One thing will never change: I’ll keep fighting for Baltimore County.”

Robinson did not respond to a request for comment.

A fourth unaffiliated county council candidate, A. Scott Pappas, who was running to represent Dundalk, Essex and Edgemere, said he withdrew from the race.

District 1: Hooe are you?

Hooe’s southwestern Baltimore County roots go back generations, he said.

The 57-year-old was born in Arbutus, graduated from Andover High School, attended Johns Hopkins University and runs The Tire Network, a tire sales, oil change and brake service business in Federal Hill.

“I’ve always believed that if you have the ability to help your neighbor or improve your community, you have a responsibility to do it,” he wrote in an email.

The Lansdowne father of two will be running against Democratic nominee Paul Dongarra and Republican nominee Rheagan Kindle to represent the southwestern part of Baltimore County in council District 1.

Hooe said voters should consider him because he has a proven track record of standing up for what’s right, including when he opposed a Royal Farms truck stop in Lansdowne that incensed the community.

“My father’s property was part of the proposed development, and he stood to receive approximately $1.3 million from its sale,” he wrote. “Despite the financial benefit to my own family, I sided with the community and fought the proposal.”

Hooe has run four times previously as the Republican nominee for District 12-turned-District 44A in Maryland’s House of Delegates.

District 5: Battle for north county

Shaffer is running as an independent to replace recently retired Republican council member Wade Kach and represent northern Baltimore County.

The Cockeysville resident has fashioned himself as an alternative to hardline conservative, former state delegate and current incumbent Nino Mangione, and progressive Democrat Shawn McIntosh.

The 38-year-old has focused his campaign on affordability.

“Regular people don’t have a voice,” he wrote in a text message. “That’s why we see higher housing costs, BGE continuing to rise and decisions being made without the community ever having a say.”

In a Facebook video, Shaffer told potential voters that he is not running as an independent because he “sits on the fence,” but because he believes that both parties use political connections that do not serve their constituents.

“I’m sick of politicians having cozy relationships with developers and big money,” he said. “Right now if somebody wants to build a hundred homes, they get that permit because of a backroom deal.”

District 9: ‘We all bleed the same.’

Sekora, a 40-year Dundalk resident, wants to be the next council member to represent eastern Baltimore County.

“Everybody’s important to me, whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, white, Black, Asian,” she said. “We all bleed the same, we all have feelings, we all have opinions.”

The 70-year-old owns and runs Donna’s Tavern and Restaurant, a longtime neighborhood pub.

She unsuccessfully challenged council member Todd Crandell in the previous Republican primary in 2022, but chose to run unaffiliated with either party this year because she’s tired of the polarization.

“I just feel like that these parties believe they’re right and that’s it ... my way or the highway,” Sekora said. “I’m really against that. … every family and every person needs to be heard."

She added that her community needs change and that it has nothing to lose.

“We gotta turn around and get back up top,” Sekora said. “Dundalk … this side of town, Dundalk, Edgemere, Essex, we’ve always been left behind.”

Sekora will face Democratic nominee Arkia Wade and Republican nominee Tim Fazenbaker in November’s election.