Inside Howard County’s only contested council race

Most of Howard County’s local elections were settled in the spring primary, since no one stepped forward to challenge the Democratic primary winners.

But one County Council race remains competitive.

In council District 5, which spans Howard’s westernmost district, Republican Ryan O’Connor and Democrat Cat Carter are vying to replace longtime council member David Yungmann, a Republican who is leaving office by the end of the year to focus on his real estate career.

Carter is a former teacher and cybersecurity small-business owner who has served on the PTA Council of Howard County. O’Connor has a background in energy finance, both in the public and private sector, and volunteered for Howard County Boys Club Lacrosse.

Western Howard traditionally elects conservatives to the five-person council, which is both a disadvantage and advantage. Democrats who hold the other four council seats don’t need the District 5 representative’s vote to get bills and budgets passed. But when they split on issues, it is the rural west’s councilperson who can cast the tie-breaking vote.

The race’s outcome is consequential for the incoming county executive. Former state lawmaker Vanessa Atterbeary, a Democrat, appears to be the frontrunner in that race, with no Republican candidate challenging her. She had a large head start in campaigning over Green Party candidate Nater Kane, who entered the contest in July.

Carter and O’Connor both say they’ve gone out of their way to speak with registered voters across party lines as well as independents.

“Advocating for my community is the top priority,” Carter said. “I take that role and the importance of that role to heart. I would advocate for everyone, just like I’ve been doing for 10 years.”

“It takes someone who can understand and respect different perspectives,” O’Connor said. “You can’t get it perfect, but you can try your best to make the most pragmatic decision for most of humanity.”

Their platforms diverge there.

Carter emphasizes constituent services, growth that keeps pace with the county’s infrastructure and using existing revenue to address chronic issues like funding for schools and affordable housing.

O’Connor wants to lower taxes, particularly reducing the cap on Howard’s property tax increases under the homestead property tax credit from 5% to 3%. To strengthen schools, he’s calling for better budget forecasting. And he’s pushing for more police patrols to address constituent complaints about petty theft.

Early voting begins Thursday in Maryland, and it’s unclear whose messaging will appeal most to Howard’s District 5 voters.

While hyperpolarization of the Democrat and Republican parties has dominated national election cycles in recent years, local politics have a way of blurring party lines. Howard voters are weighing candidates on a variety of issues this fall, such as a chronic funding shortage for the county’s celebrated public schools and a housing cost crisis that is creating challenges for young adults and seniors.

Longtime District 5 resident Steven Haas is registered as a Democrat — but campaigned exclusively for Republicans until meeting Carter at the Howard County Fairgrounds in 2025. Her pitch — to address deferred maintenance at Centennial High School near where his grandkids live, to better use the county’s existing revenue, and to manage growth in a district that relies largely on well water — got his attention.

“It’s not a Democrat versus Republican issue for me,” Haas said. “It’s valuable that she just focuses on the issues.”

Haas reviewed O’Connor’s priorities as well but said the public safety pledge didn’t do much for him. The 71-year-old is an avid Pokémon Go player and frequently wanders around outside with his phone searching for incentives in the game. Police officers occasionally stop him to ask what he’s up to and laugh when he explains. Overall, he said he feels very safe.

Haas also likes that Carter is using Howard County’s public funding mechanism, called the Citizens’ Election Fund. The fund encourages candidates to rely on small donations and places restrictions on donations and endorsements from certain interest groups.

O’Connor is not using the fund, which he believes is a waste of money for taxpayers.

Other voters like Julia Ju see a Republican candidate as a moderating voice in a local government that is controlled by Democrats. She gravitated toward the Republican Party around 2019 when Howard County was embroiled in a contentious school redistricting fight, which she described as a “wake-up call.”

“There’s no one to ask questions if the Democratic Party just makes the decisions,” Ju said.

Seven years later, Ju is tuned into local politics. She accompanied O’Connor last month while he knocked on doors in District 5. Some residents had a poor reaction when he told them he is the only Republican running for council, she said.

Ju recalled asking O’Connor if it was a waste of time to bother speaking with liberal-leaning voters.

“That’s America,” Ju said he replied. “They live here. I still want to get to them and to let them know this is what I want to do for the community.”

After months of door knocking, both Carter and O’Connor say they see District 5 as increasingly politically diverse.

“It’s a big melting pot,” O’Connor said. Everyone just wants their voice to be heard.

“People are more alike than they know,” Carter said.