The surprises in this year’s state elections, it turned out, were all in the races for county executive. Starting with Baltimore County.

Recap: John “Johnny O” Olszewski Jr. won one of the closest elections in state history when he slipped past a pair of more conservative Democrats, state Sen. Jim Brochin and Councilwoman Vicky Almond in a near three-way tie. Olszewski, running as a progressive, won the recount by 17 votes. Statistically, that’s less than .1 percent.

Then, versus Republican Al Redmer—enthusiastically backed by incumbent Gov. Larry Hogan, who won the county by more 24 percent Tuesday—the general election contest turned out to be no contest. Instead, the 36-year-old Olszewski (pronounced: Ol-shess-ski) posted a stunning 15-point victory, a nearly 40-point Democratic swing from the gubernatorial results.

Democrat Calvin Ball’s upset of Allan Kittleman, the moderate Republican incumbent county executive in Howard County, was significant, of course. So was Democrat Steuart Pittman’s upset of Republican incumbent county executive Steve Schuh in Anne Arundel County. But perhaps no local story was more compelling than Olszewski’s political comeback from a tough loss four years ago for an open state senate seat in the Dundalk-area district where he was born, raised, and still lives.

“I think [the loss four years ago] humbled him,” said one local Democratic Party insider of Olszewski. “I think it made him a better listener.”

Olszewski’s loss to Republican Johnny Ray Salling, by little more than 800 votes, certainly had a lot to do with southeast Baltimore County’s blue-to-red tilt in recent years. However, Olszewski deserves credit, not just for picking up the pieces and running for office again, but for spending two years laying the groundwork for his successful comeback, and in particular, reaching out to voters on the other side of county.

“He made every town hall meeting, met with every church group, and met with every organization on the west side,” said Shirley Supik, a Woodlawn-area Democrat. “He’s a service guy. He’s a man who listens.”

“He knows as many people on this side of town as the east side, I guarantee you that,” added her husband, Jeff Supik, 66, a former general contractor. “In this county, education is the most important issue and he’s made it clear it’s on the top of his list. He’s been a teacher and he has a Ph.D., which shows how important education is to him.”

Olszewski, who as he puts it “grew up in the shadow” of the once-great Bethlehem Steel mill, is young, but hardly a political newcomer. If anything, what his election has shown, is that he possesses the ability to pull off a tough balancing act—remaining viable to blue-collar, Democratic Hogan voters as well as the more progressive wing of his party. Not that it’s been easy.

While in the House of Delegates, Olszewski cast a key vote in 2012 in support of civil marriage for same-sex couples. The following year, perhaps with a state senate bid in mind in conservative District 6, he voted against the assault weapons ban—which passed—a vote he characterized as a mistake during this election season.

And, although he doesn’t push back against the progressive label, neither did he campaign with Bernie Sanders-endorsed, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ben Jealous. In a recent interview with Baltimore magazine, he highlighted votes in the General Assembly against higher sales, alcohol, and gasoline taxes, and opposition to toll increases. “Some of that is being born in an industrial town where people work hard for their money and sort of, valuing that as a life lesson,” Olszewski said.

The eldest son of former County Councilman John Olszewski Sr.’s three sons, Olszewski got an early start in the family business with a student-member appointment to the Baltimore County Board of Education as a Sparrows Point High senior. Three years later, he was elected to the Maryland Democratic State Central Committee, and in 2006 he was appointed to fill a House of Delegates vacancy left by the late John Arnick, where he was twice reelected. Olszewski was the youngest person elected to lead the Baltimore County delegation in the House of Delegates, and taught for seven years at Patapsco High School and Center for the Arts before earning a doctorate in public policy from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. He’s married, with one young daughter, and lives in the St. Helena neighborhood.

During his campaign, he came out in favor of a statewide $15 minimum wage, a single-payer health care system in Maryland, and an end to cash bail. He supports the Trust Act—legislation, which would protect local government resources from being used to enforce civil immigration enforcement—and a goal of 100 percent renewable energy for Baltimore County government operations by 2030. He also supports spending taxpayer dollars to build infrastructure to aid the Tradepoint Atlantic redevelopment project, already home to Amazon, Fed Ex, and Under Armour distribution facilities, at Sparrows Point.

Most notably, he enthusiastically supported the Home Act on the campaign trail—which forbids housing discrimination in Baltimore County based on the source of income. It may have been the defining issue of the 2018 electoral season in Baltimore County and, in fact, Olszewski believes it doesn’t go far enough.

Brochin, Almond, and Redmer all opposed the anti-housing discrimination law.

During a visit to the Baltimore offices after his win, we asked County Executive-elect Olszewski a few more questions about his policies. And also a few questions about some other things.

Larry Hogan Becomes First Republican Governor to Be Re-Elected Since 1954.
In convincing fashion, Larry Hogan became the first Republican governor in Maryland in more than 60 years to win a second term Tuesday.

Not since Theodore McKeldin in the 1950s had voters in the state awarded a Republican a second four-year stay in the Governor’s Mansion, but Hogan’s victory hardly came as a surprise. The popular Anne Arundel County-based real estate developer, who survived a well-publicized bout with cancer in his first term, led Democratic challenger Ben Jealous by double digits throughout the general election season.

Pledging to hold the line on taxes and create a more business-friendly climate in the state, Hogan attracted more than enough centrist and conservative Democrats to his GOP base to easily overcome a 2-1 Democratic registration advantage in the state.

“Let me remind you that Maryland has always been a state of middle temperate,” Hogan said in his acceptance remarks, adding his administration has sought a bi-partisan approach to governing since its outset four years ago. “I’m proud we are setting an example for rest of America.

Jealous, the former head of the NAACP, had finally gained some momentum in the last couple of weeks of the campaign, but for all intents and purposes, the race was decided shortly after the primaries, according to political observers. “The Republican Governors Association and Hogan ads defined Jealous, who struggled with fundraising, as risky and extreme before he ever responded,” said Goucher College political science professor and pollster Mileah Kromer. “When you allow your opponent to define you in politics, that’s never a good thing.”

“Ben Jealous tried very hard to make the election a referendum on Donald Trump, and then a referendum on health care and the minimum wage, but there never was a defining message,” said Todd Eberly, a St. Mary’s College political science professor. “It was a scattershot approach and just too little, too late.”

Baltimore County Elects Johnny O.
In Baltimore County, which Hogan carried by a wide margin, voters overwhelming elected Democratic Johnny Olszewski, who captured 57 percent of the tally, and defeated Republican Al Redmer.

Olszewski, running on a progressive platform, won a three-way Democratic primary battle in the county by just 17 votes before besting Redmer, who had received the enthusiastic backing of Hogan. The victory marks something of a comeback for Olszewski, a former teacher and Baltimore County state delegate from Dundalk, who lost a bid for the state senate four years ago.

“He’s been to every church and met with every organization and people have gotten to know him and they trust him,” said Shirley Supik, an Olszewski supporter from Woodlawn, at a rally over the weekend. “He’s a man who listens.”

“Education is a priority with him,” added her husband, Jeff Supik, 66, a former general contractor. “He’s shown that and it’s the number one issue in this county.”

There Was (Mostly) a Blue Wave in Maryland.
Hogan’s strong approval ratings translated into 56 percent of the tally in the gubernatorial race, but did not produce any coattails, however. Democrats managed to flip two important suburban county executive seats as well as maintaining their veto-proof majority in the General Assembly.

The GOP went into Election Day with hopes, albeit against long odds, of turning five state senate seats from blue to red—their “Drive for Five” effort—which would’ve enabled Hogan and Republican party to redraw the state’s legislative districts in 2020.

Democratic Attorney General Brian Frosh, who has clashed with Hogan, in particular in regards to federal lawsuits directed at the President Trump, won reelection by nearly 30 points over Republican challenger Craig Wolf.

As expected, Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Cardin also easily won reelection.

Nationally, the Democrats recaptured control of the House of Representatives, but the GOP kept its advantage in the U.S. Senate.

In terms of the Maryland congressional seats up for grabs, there were no upsets in the state. Democrats held onto all seven of their seats in the House, with incumbents Dutch Ruppersberger, Elijah Cummings, Jon Sarbanes, Anthony Brown, Steny Hoyer, and Jaime Raskin all easily winning reelection. In the 6th congressional district, Democrat David Trone won, replacing John Delaney, who did not pursue reelection in order to launch a presidential campaign.

Republican Andy Harris, the lone GOP representative in the Maryland delegation, coasted to reelection in the 1st congressional district.

Democratic Upsets in Howard and Anne Arundel Counties.
In Howard and Anne Arundel counties—both of which Hogan won handily—incumbent Republican county executives unexpectedly lost to their Democrat challengers. In Howard County, County Councilman Calvin Ball upset Allan Kittleman. In Anne Arundel County, Steuart Pittman, a farmer and community organizer, surprised Steve Schuh.

Ball will be the first African-American Howard County executive and plans to invest in education, environmental sustainability, and the opioid crisis.

Of course, the 300-pound elephant in the campaign is managing the $50 million plan to mitigate flooding in Ellicott City. Kittleman announced the plan in August and Ball voted against the three funding bills because his amendments were not included. Ball told The Sun on Tuesday that he would “take time to evaluate all plans in progress for effectiveness and efficiency . . . and make a decision from there.”

Olszewski, Ball, and Pittman’s victories could put them on the early list of potential Democratic gubernatorial candidates for 2022. For Kittleman and Schuh, viewed as possible Republican gubernatorial contenders in four years, their losses make any future Annapolis run more difficult.