In a move that’s been in the works for years, Democratic Councilman Izzy Patoka said Monday that he is running for Baltimore County Executive.

Patoka made the announcement in his back yard, telling his supporters he has what it takes to be county executive.

“You need to have the instinctive awareness that communities come first,” Patoka said. “Good government and public policy need to reside at the highest level of priority.”

Patoka touted his accomplishments on the county council, including banning plastic bags and taking steps to try to reduce school overcrowding.

Patoka joins two fellow council members, Julian Jones and Pat Young, as well as Nick Stewart, who co-founded the good government group We the People-Baltimore County, in the race for the 2026 Democratic nomination.

Jones and Patoka have been positioning themselves for years to run for the seat.

In 2022, Patoka considered running if then-County Executive Johnny Olszewski had run for governor. Olszewski backed away from that race and ran for a second term. So Patoka ran for reelection to the council instead.

“I think that I’m even stronger now because I’ve had a couple of years of implementing really good government initiatives,” Patoka said in an interview.

Olszewski stepped down as county executive in January after winning his race for Congress. Former State Sen. Kathy Klausmeier was chosen by the county council to finish Olszewski’s term.

Council members made her pledge to not run for county executive in 2026, fearing that would give her the advantage of being an incumbent. Even if Olszewski had stayed and finished his second term it still would have been an open seat because he would have been term limited.

As of the last campaign finance filing in January, both Patoka and Jones had raised more than $1 million for the race. They have been aggressively fundraising since then. Patoka's Monday night announcement had the trappings of a well-heeled campaign, including a five-piece jazz band and free pizza and wine.

Young has decided to run using public financing. Stewart is using the same fundraiser used by Gov. Wes Moore. When he announced his candidacy in April, Stewart said he had raised about $150,000.

Former State Sen. Jim Brochin, who lost a very close race to Olszewski for the Democratic nomination in 2018, is considering running as an independent this time around.

So far, no Republican has stepped forward to run for county executive next year.

Patoka worked for Martin O’Malley when he was governor and before that, Baltimore’s mayor. O’Malley was on hand Monday night to endorse Patoka’s candidacy.

O’Malley said, “This is a guy who understands budgets. He understands infrastructure and roads and most importantly he always puts neighborhoods first.”

Baltimore County Council Chairman Mike Ertel, the only Democratic councilman who is not running for county executive, was there as well.

Ertel wouldn’t go so far as to say his presence was an endorsement.

“I’m trying to stay neutral at his point,” Ertel said. “Izzy’s a good choice in the sense that he's done a lot of work before he was even a council person.”