3 takeaways from Howard County’s primary election

Howard County voters handed Vanessa Atterbeary not only the Democratic nomination for county executive but also apparent wins for her allies in all five County Council races.

Victors and front-runners in the Democratic primary for each of the County Council’s five districts attended Atterbeary’s election-night party backstage at Columbia’s Merriweather Post Pavilion after the polls closed Tuesday. Atterbeary had endorsed Kevin Chin, Jessica Nichols and Janssen Evelyn and was endorsed by Christiana Rigby, who is the council’s lone incumbent pursuing another term.

The district won by Cat Carter, which includes Howard County’s western and more conservative reaches, is the only one with a Republican candidate.

While unaffiliated candidates have until July 6 to enter the race, the absence of any GOP contenders means Atterbeary and four council candidates could be unopposed in November’s general election.

Tuesday’s results speak to Atterbeary’s influence with Howard’s Democratic establishment — and suggest the party’s voters are looking for more unity from local elected officials in 2027.

Atterbeary seemed to recognize that sentiment in her victory speech, saying that the primary race was never about her and pledging to solve problems, not create them.

“The people of Howard County did not send me here to argue,” she said. “They sent me here to deliver results, and that is what I intend to do.”

Here are three takeaways from the primary election in Howard County.

Unprecedented diversity

If elected, Atterbeary would not only be the first woman elected to the county’s top seat in four decades but also the first Black woman to hold the position.

Family members of her longtime mentor — Howard’s first Black delegate, Frank Turner — said the late lawmaker would have been thrilled by Atterbeary’s win. Turner was a family friend who pushed Atterbeary to run for county executive “when the time was right,” his daughter-in-law Tara Turner said.

“We’re really proud of her,” she said this week.

When the first Howard County Council was elected in 1968, voters chose five white men to represent the five councilmanic districts. Two women joined the council in 1975: Ruth U. Keeton and Virginia M. Thomas. In 1983, voters elected the first Black council member, C. Vernon Gray, and in 1986, Elizabeth Bobo was elected the first woman county executive.

Since the 1980s, the council’s demographics have remained relatively the same. While the number of women council members has fluctuated, there’s only ever been one Black council member at any given time.

That’s set to change.

According to Tuesday’s unofficial results, voters were poised to choose three candidates of color: Chin, an Asian American, for District 1; Nichols, a Black woman, for District 2; and Evelyn, a Black man, for District 4.

If Chin and Nichols hold their leads against their opponents and remain unopposed, they would become the first Asian American and the first Black woman to be elected to the council, respectively.

Black and Asian American residents each make up about 20% of the population.

Unity between county executive and council

Howard County executives wield a lot of power to carry out their initiatives. Without the cooperation of the county council, however, there are limits.

It’s a dynamic that tripped up County Executive Calvin Ball’s campaign for more affordable housing options and lower rents in one of Maryland’s most expensive areas. The council declined to advance a package of housing bills that Ball introduced in 2023 that would have set a cap on rents to prevent price gouging.

This rapport between the county’s executive and legislative branches was a major concern for members of Atterbeary’s campaign team, including Jenna Burtch.

The county stands to benefit from a “unified council and executive,” Burtch said at Atterbeary’s party.

If proponents of Atterbeary’s policy priorities win council seats, she may face less friction than her predecessor did when taking on some of the county’s biggest problems.

Issues on the horizon

Atterbeary will have a full plate of countywide issues to dive into should she win come November.

There’s President Donald Trump: Throughout her campaign, Atterbeary emphasized that she would resist Trump’s agenda, such as his administration’s efforts to expand immigration enforcement in the state. As the county seeks to block a proposed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility from opening in Elkridge, the property owner, Genesis GSA Strategic One LLC, is fighting back in court. The legal battle, in which the Department of Justice has intervened, is ongoing.

There are schools: In education-focused Howard County, many residents fixate on how much money the county government is providing to the public schools in the annual budget. Under state law, the county executive can only make cuts to the Board of Education’s request, not add to it. Atterbeary has committed to funding the county schools with at least 55% of the annual budget.

There’s oversight: Two years ago, Howard voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot measure to create a new inspector general’s office. However, the new office has faced roadblocks as it seeks unfettered access to records needed to investigate fraud, waste and abuse in county government. If Atterbeary takes office, she will have the power to either ease the inspector general’s path or make it more difficult for the office to conduct investigations.

There are other big-ticket items, too: They include the Columbia lakefront library, data center development and the ambitious Ellicott City Safe and Sound flood mitigation plan.

After 11 years in the State House, Atterbeary said she’s ready to begin a new chapter.

“I will listen to you,” she pledged. “I will show up. I will work hard to earn your trust. I will never forget where I came from.”