Rob Daniels hopes Baltimore County voters see something unprecedented on their ballots this fall: an independent challenging a Democrat and a Republican for the county’s top political office.

The 53-year-old Pikesville attorney is running as an unaffiliated candidate in a crowded field for county executive. Past elections have traditionally been contested between the two major parties — and dominated in recent decades by Democrats.

This year, Daniels is trying to offer a third option to voters who may feel disenchanted and unrepresented by the two-party system.

“My candidacy guarantees that no matter who the parties end up nominating, there is an outside voice in the general election,” Daniels said. “I want to make sure that people have the chance for a leader who is an outsider, who rejects the establishment situation that we found ourselves in, who can offer another way.”

To make the ballot as an unaffiliated candidate, Daniels must file a petition by Aug. 3 with signatures from 1% of registered county voters, or about 6,000 people. Daniels said this week he’s collected just over half that number.

No independent candidate for county executive has ever appeared on the ballot, Daniels said, though some have run write-in campaigns.

One reason Daniels is optimistic he’ll buck the trend: The number of registered independents in the county grew 20% over the last four years, compared to a 1% decline among Democrats and a 2% rise among Republicans. Independents now account for about one in five county voters.

Kip Castner, a Daniels supporter who typically votes Democratic, said his frustrations with bitter partisanship in government made him open to supporting an alternative this time.

“He doesn’t have to reimburse or notch wins for a party,” Castner said. “He would come in not being beholden to a set of narrow interests and be about the business of good governance for everybody.”

Public safety is one of Daniels’ top priorities. Drawing on his six years as a local prosecutor, he said he wants to fully staff the police department, strengthen anti-violence programs and expand services for family and youth.

Daniels also promised to make government more transparent and accountable, criticizing the County Council’s controversial vote to double its pensions, a decision it has since rolled back.

Daniels was born and raised in Salisbury. A few years after high school, he took classes at Wor-Wic Community College, which he credits with setting him on a path to higher education and shaping his life trajectory. After graduating from the University of Baltimore in 2002, he earned a law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in 2005.

Daniels was living in Baltimore as a new lawyer when he “lost everything” in the 2008 financial crisis. Two homes he owned became unaffordable when their mortgage rates suddenly rose, and lenders foreclosed on the properties. He sold many of his belongings trying to stay afloat.

“It just really reinforced my empathy when it comes to people who struggle,” Daniels said. “I think so many people are one paycheck, one bad decision, one job loss away from complete financial devastation.”

The experience prompted Daniels to move to the county, where he said he rebuilt his life.

He began his career as a prosecutor in 2011, working as an assistant state’s attorney in Carroll County, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore City. In the city, he was assigned to the Special Victims Unit, where he prosecuted cases involving rape and child sexual abuse.

Since 2017, Daniels has served in the Maryland Office of the Attorney General as a civil litigator assigned to the state Department of Transportation. He’s also on the advisory board of the Jill Fox Center for Hope, a violence response and prevention program, and a board member of a local chapter of the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland.

Daniels is openly gay. He and his longtime partner married last year and share two French bulldogs.

The attorney has run for office — and taken on the establishment — before. In 2024, Daniels challenged four sitting Baltimore County Circuit Court judges in what became an unusually contentious judicial election. Each side hurled personal barbs at the other, with Daniels accusing the incumbents of being soft on crime and the judges attacking Daniels for his past financial difficulties.

Daniels fell short with 13% of the vote but said the experience taught him how to run a countywide race, bolstered his name recognition and honed his campaign message.

“There was a personal toll, there was a professional toll, but I survived it, and it was worth it,” Daniels said.

Winning this time around would be an even taller order, in a county where registered Democrats still make up 52% of the electorate.

One major challenge for Daniels’ campaign: fundraising. While Democratic candidates combined to raise $1.3 million last year, Daniels brought in around $3,600 and lent himself another $2,200, according to the most recent campaign finance reports.

Daniels said it remains to be seen whether the county’s growing base of unaffiliated voters is open to supporting an independent, or if it’ll default to backing a major-party nominee.

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

Regardless of the outcome, Daniels said he hopes having an independent in the field will help moderate each side’s positions.

“My voice in the general means that we’re going to have dialogue about those solutions in the middle,” he said. “I think it will make our electorate more informed, and I think it could lead to the best possible result in leadership, whether that’s me or someone else.”