Nino Mangione, a proudly MAGA delegate, appointed Northern Baltimore County councilman

Nino Mangione, a staunchly MAGA Republican state delegate, will become the newest Baltimore County councilman, thanks to a vote Saturday afternoon.

The District 3 Republican Central Committee — consisting of two voting members — chose Mangione out of seven applicants to fill the vacancy created when Wade Kach retired this month.

Kach, 79, was a moderate Republican known for land preservation. Mangione, 38, is from a well-known developer family and has said President Donald Trump is the person he admires most in the world.

Mangione could be sworn in as early as Monday’s council meeting. Baltimore County Executive Kathy Klausmeier has 30 days from the vacancy date to move the appointment forward, though she has no power to challenge it, according to Baltimore County Central Committee member Bradley Long. That would be June 6.

Mangione is the only candidate for the interim position who is also running for it full time. He left the vote at the Holiday Inn Timonium dressed in a polo with his name on it, saying he was headed to a campaign event. The primary is June 23.

Kate Strauch Sullivan, a Glen Arm stay-at-home mother, was one of the two votes for Mangione, along with Ray Bocelli, a retired police officer. Sullivan said she thought about “playing it safe” and nominating Kach’s aide, Catherine Lynne Jones. But she reconsidered Mangione’s record on constituent services, which she praised, and her desire to provide him runway in the Republican primary. Democrat Shawn McIntosh will challenge him in the general election.

“The party is looking to be a little bolder than we normally are,” she said.

Most of Bocelli’s questions focused on how candidates would work with the police department and handle immigration enforcement. Bocelli said no one factor pushed him to Mangione.

Asked about being one of two people to choose representation for 120,000 constituents, Sullivan said, “It’s a strange position, and I cannot do anything about it. It is a lot of pressure on two people.”

District 3’s Republican Central Committee includes four members. But one, Angela Sudano-Marcellino, was not present. The other, Jay Brown, was appointed to fill a vacancy and thus could not vote, per the rules. He was supporting Lynne Jones, though.

County Councilman David Marks, an Upper Falls Republican, tried to pass legislation requiring the entire Central Committee to appoint replacements, but he failed to get buy-in from Democrats.

“This process needs to change,” said Kimberley Stansbury, a Republican candidate for county executive.

Nonetheless, Stansbury was pleased with the outcome. The appointment gives Mangione a head start on keeping the seat Republican.

“It will be good for Baltimore County, and that’s all I can ask,” she said.

Mangione’s primary opponent disagrees. Theaux Le Gardeur, the Gunpowder Riverkeeper, is also seeking the Republican nomination for the seat. He wrote to committee members asserting that choosing Mangione would “tip the scales prior to the primary and provide him with unearned incumbency.”

Le Gardeur also said Mangione was a departure from Kach’s approach to land conservation and would “roundly fail to represent” residents who have “come to depend on Councilman Kach’s thoughtful and protective approach in protecting clean air, land and water.”

Le Gardeur also noted that Mangione received low grades from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters. In 2023, he ranked as the group’s worst House member on environmental legislation.

Mangione, in his council campaign, has consistently promised to protect the district’s rural character and specifically the Urban-Rural Demarcation Line that restricts development on the northern two-thirds of the county’s land.

“The rural landscape of this district is extremely important,” he told the committee. “I will not move the URDL.”

In his interview, Mangione also talked about bringing residents together to reach consensus, a strategy Kach used often. Another important issue facing the district is the future of Lutherville Station, a shopping center near the light rail that developer Mark Renbaum is seeking to develop into a mixed-use apartment and commercial complex.

Mangione previously told The Banner that Lutherville Station’s development has taken “far too long and should have been resolved years ago.” He favors a 325-apartment compromise and said he plans to work with the community to build consensus.

The URDL and Lutherville Station came up in other candidate interviews. Lutherville community leader Eric Rockel said he opposed Gov. Wes Moore’s plan to build transit-oriented, multifamily development along the light rail lines.

“That is something that scares the bejesus out of me, and I have been a critic of it since it started,” he said.

In addition to Rockel and Mangione, the other candidates were healthcare executive E.J. McNulty, former Councilman Todd Huff and Towson attorney Tim Braue. A seventh candidate, Gerard Wm. “Rod” Wittstadt Jr., dropped out during his interview and endorsed Mangione.

Mangione’s legislation has skewed more conservative than is typical for council Republicans, who often cosponsor legislation with Democrats and are generally collegial. In the Maryland House, the conservative radio host introduced bills banning what he considers sexually explicit books and gender-affirming care. He has said he is fighting “the ‘Woke’ policies of the radical left” in Annapolis.

Although he is proud of his family, Mangione refuses to discuss his cousin, Luigi Mangione, 27, who was charged in the 2024 fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York street. At the time, the Republican posted a statement on his family’s behalf expressing shock, grief and sympathy for the Thompson family.

Marks congratulated Mangione on his appointment; had the two-person committee not picked someone, there was a chance the seat would remain vacant.

“The council needs full representation for all its residents,” he said, “and deserves the healthy balance between our parties that voters picked in 2022.”

This story has been updated to clarify that the county executive must make the appointment by June 6.