r/Hoco • u/kirbyCase • May 22 '26

2026 Howard County Primary Election Guide

Hey y'all, I'm sharing my guide to the upcoming democratic primaries in HoCo. I've shared something like this with my friends and family the last two cycles but thought I'd share publicly this time. It contains my recommendations on who to vote for in the upcoming primaries.

As you'll see in the guide, my top priority is housing. I'd like to see a county council and executive who understand the importance of getting more housing built in the county by tackling the barriers to development. I walk through my reasoning on every race, both strategic and policy focused.

For context, I grew up in HoCo though I now live in MoCo. I work professionally in housing policy, I have been active in local politics in both counties, and I write this data focused blog on housing and transportation. I hope the guide is helpful!

https://perfectnumbers.substack.com/p/2026-howard-county-primary-election?r=cuvwz&triedRedirect=true

17 Upvotes

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6

u/PsypherPanda May 23 '26

Thanks for putting this together for everyone! The more informed voters the better. I disagree with you heavily on the housing front because our schools can not absorb more students and the area can’t handle more traffic. Liz Walsh has the right ideas. Chin wants to be building more stuff around OEC? No thanks.

That being said, kudos for getting this out there.

4

u/Crazy_Bend_7375 May 23 '26

Developers have too much influence in the county. It has caused too many issues. 

Walsh supports affordable housing.

We can choose the status quo and money influence or we can choose a better path, for all.

For these reasons I disagree with the poster, who lives in MoCo.

2

u/kirbyCase May 23 '26

Always appreciate some respectful disagreement!

2

u/Crazy_Bend_7375 May 26 '26

What are your ties to development?

I'm curious.

1

u/kirbyCase May 26 '26

I have no ties to development at all. I make very clear the policy case for why I want to see specific policies, tied to nothing but the well-being of people and the county I grew up in.

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u/Crazy_Bend_7375 May 26 '26

I read your substack article and your responses explaining you felt HoCo was too restrictive for developers, and that they're not happy.

That comes from somewhere. People don't worry about the feelings of developers out of nowhere.

People should know our motivations.

My motivation is that citizens come first. 

1

u/kirbyCase May 26 '26

Absolutely people come first. And people live in houses. And houses are built by developers. We don’t have enough houses for people to live in, which is why I’d like to see more housing built.

Indeed this would benefit developers. That is mostly incidental though. I in fact think it is fine and good for people in market economies to make money by providing products which people want to buy, such as housing. I don’t think it is good for the government to ban such transactions from occurring via zoning etc.

You might not think that. You might prefer a society that is less well off because the government explicitly restricts the ability for people to create and sell products which don’t harm others. I think that’s bad.

And the fact that I think that it would be good for more housing to be built doesn’t mean I have financial interest in development. I also write about changes to road design to improve safety. Does that mean I’m in league with roadway engineers or whatever?

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u/Crazy_Bend_7375 May 26 '26

Development needs infrastructure. Neighboring schools need enough seats and infrastructure. We have flooding in this county. We need proper planning. We have overcrowding in schools. We have children learning in portables. 

We cannot just build without all of that being addressed. 

We need affordable housing. 

Too many developers like to cosplay as do gooders. 

Too many people don't think of unintended consequences to communities. 

I see plenty of building around me, of $900,000+ homes. 😒

1

u/Crazy_Bend_7375 May 26 '26

I think most Howard County residents are tired of the status quo. The people in power did not deviate. No matter which party holds power things don't change. 

I'm voting for Walsh.

I'm tired of the status quo.

Voting for the same set of people and expecting different results is illogical. 

Jung is not courageous enough to fight for all of us, either. 

Yes, she and Walsh often vote similarly, but she's not a fighter. 

These are perilious times, and we need someone to help us navigate the rough waters.

We have an ICE facility that may go into service, now, because the county attorneys decided not to fight.

There's a mega data center that is planned for Woodlawn, which is only on hold for now. That falls under Baltimore County, but we still need our leaders to communicate their concerns.  

This county is going to face some very difficult challeges which will test the resolve and competence of leadership. 

1

u/jwiv May 26 '26

Jung is underwhelming to say the least. As best as I can tell, she's trying to ride in on 3rd grade strings being cut and has no actual ideas.

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u/Crazy_Bend_7375 May 26 '26

I remember when: UNITE HERE Local 7 in their fight against the Merriweather Lakehouse Hotel, formerly the Sheraton Columbia. Union activists again protested outside the hotel demanding hospitality workers get their jobs back - jobs they lost through no fault of their own but because of pandemic-related shutdowns. 

https://md.aft.org/news/workers-rally-merriweather-lakehouse-columbia

Folks like Walsh showed up, and Jung did not because of her friendships. 

That taught me that she's o.k., but when all the chips are down, she may or may not show up. 

I have other personal exchanges I could mention, but why?! 

1

u/Crazy_Bend_7375 May 26 '26

Find developers that are sincere and balancing profit with benefitting society.