Who’s running for office in Howard County? A doctor, a W.R. Grace opponent, a lone Republican and more

Howard County politics are about to get an injection of new blood.

With few incumbents running in the June 23 primary election, the county is all but guaranteed to see sweeping turnover in most of its top offices. The filing deadline for candidates was Feb. 24. Early voting takes place June 11-18.

Registered voters have until June 23 to decide how to cast their ballot, and several candidate forums — organized by the youth-led Illuminate Maryland and the People Acting Together in Howard coalition — have already taken place to help them decide.

Here’s a roundup of the contested races for Howard County office in 2026.

County Executive

With Democrat Calvin Ball reaching his two-term limit at the end of the year, the county’s top elected position is up for grabs.

Four Democrats — former Del. Vanessa Atterbeary, restaurateur Bob Cockey and County Council members Deb Jung and Liz Walsh — have launched campaigns for county executive.

Del. Jessica Feldmark withdrew from the race in December following a cancer diagnosis and instead is seeking reelection.

The primary race is going to be consequential because no Republicans have filed to run, but it has historical potential as well. With three women on the ballot, voters could elect the first female county executive in 40 years. Atterbeary would be the first Black woman to win the seat.

County Council

There are five council seats, each representing one district. Voters can use their primary address to search for their councilmanic district through the county government website.

Of the five sitting council members, all of whom have held their seats since 2018, four aren’t pursuing third terms. Jung and Walsh are running for county executive. District 5 Councilman David Yungmann announced last spring that he would not seek a third term in order to focus on his real estate career. District 2 Councilman Opel Jones confirmed in December that he would not seek a third term, stating that he had considered and decided against running for a different office.

District 1 voters have a choice among Democrats Kevin Chin, a doctor at MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore; James Handley, a former Army officer and assistant attorney general; and Jean Xu, founder of the county’s influential Chinese American Parent Association.

In District 2, two Democrats are bringing their ample experience in public service to the race. Arinze Ifekauche works in Maryland’s Office of Crime Prevention and Policy and Jessica Nichols was recently named Howard County’s Teacher of the Year. State election records show a third candidate, Regina McLendon, withdrew from the race.

The council’s only incumbent seeking reelection is Christiana Rigby in District 3. The Democrat has a background in environmental policy and as a community organizer. She has served two terms on council. Her challenger, Amir Naviwala, is an accountant and business owner. He said he was motivated to run in part because the council declined to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Four Democrats have filed to run in District 4: Linfeng Chen, an engineer and at-large member of Howard County’s school board; Regina Clay, a longtime consultant for public, private and nonprofit organizations; Janssen Evelyn, an administrator for the Anne Arundel County government; and Shamieka Preston, an organizer for residents who opposed construction of a plastics recycling plant at the W.R. Grace & Co. headquarters in Columbia.

Howard’s lone Republican candidate is running in District 5, which includes Howard’s western reaches. Ryan O’Connor has a background in finance and works on Farmer Mac’s Rural Infrastructure team.

Two Democrats are also looking to represent District 5: Cat Carter, a former public school teacher, and Felita Phillips, a member of Howard County’s Board of Appeals. Another Democrat, Steven Bolen, withdrew from the race in February.

Board of Education

Two at-large seats are up for grabs on the Howard County Board of Education. Approximately 42% of Howard’s total budget is dedicated to education.

The race is nonpartisan, so none of the three candidates are affiliated with any political party. They are Mark Covington, a retired principal, Linda Frascarella, a retired General Electric employee, and Lanlan Xu, a health policy executive. All three are political newcomers.

Because the candidate pool is so small, there is no school board election in June, and all three will appear on the fall ballot. Typically, when there are four or more candidates, the top four candidates for the at-large seats advance from a primary to the general election.

Register of Wills

Byron E. Macfarlanehas served as register of wills since 2011. He’s being challenged by Ajile Brown, who was appointed to fill a vacancy on the county’s Orphans’ Court nearly four years ago, only to see voters decide in a referendum months later to abolish the court. Now, Howard County Circuit Court judges sit on the Orphans’ Court.

A lifelong county resident, Macfarlane is the first openly LGBTQIA+ elected official in Howard’s history, Macfarlane has served as the register of wills for the past 15 years.

During his tenure, Macfarlane said he has saved families more than $10 million in expenses and fees and improved transparency by streamlining access to public records.

Brown, who has lived in the county for two decades, is running for register of wills to “bring a new vision to the office,” with a focus on educating residents about the necessity of estate planning.

General Assembly

Howard County residents are represented across four districts in the Maryland House of Delegates. There are 14 candidates vying for eight seats. Of the candidates, 10 are registered Democrats and four are Republicans.

District 9A covers parts of Howard and Montgomery counties. Democratic Dels. Chao Wu and Natalie Ziegler are looking to keep their seats, but they’ll have to fend off challenges in the fall from two Republican candidates: Fitzgerald Mofor and Spencer Rhoda. The challengers said they want to bring common sense and more unifying voices to the Maryland State House. Both Wu and Ziegler have represented District 9A since January 2023.

Del. Courtney Watson, a Democrat, has represented Howard County residents in District 9B since January 2019. She said she is seeking reelection both to represent her neighbors and to continue state funding for the Ellicott City flood mitigation plan and public schools. Political newcomer Abdun Matin, a Democrat, is running in District 9B because, he said, “it’s time for leadership that actually serves the community, especially with Maryland’s rising poverty rate and crackdowns on immigrants’ rights among various other issues.”

Three Democrats are running for two seats in District 12A: Dels. Feldmark and Terri Hill, as well as attorney Joshua Heard. Frank Glover, a Republican who lists himself on X as a small-business owner, has also filed to run. Heard is focused on uplifting community voices and bringing new ideas and fresh leadership to the district, according to Robin Johnson, Heard’s campaign manager. The other candidates from the district did not respond to interview requests from The Banner.

Four candidates are seeking three seats in District 13. They include three Democrats — Dels. Pamela Lanman Guzzone and Gabriel Moreno, along with educator Amy Brooks — and a Republican, Mark Fisher. Moreno, an immigration attorney and CEO of a nonprofit that supports immigrants, was selected in January to fill the seat vacated by Atterbeary. He said he’s seeking election “to serve the neighbors who have become our family.”

Brooks, an English teacher at Oakland Mills High School, says she’s running to represent her students and fellow community members in the legislature and inspire some of them to run for office themselves. Guzzone did not respond to a request for comment and Fisher could not be reached.

Howard County is represented by three Democratic state senators: Katie Fry Hester in District 9, Clarence Lam in District 12 and Guy Guzzone in District 13. Lam and Guy Guzzone are running unopposed. Hester, a senator since 2019, faces a fall challenge from Republican Ben Hightower, who touts his experience as a Navy Hospital corpsman and Pentagon official. District 9 includes parts of Howard and Montgomery counties.