BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. (WBFF) — About a week away from the primary election, the Baltimore County Executive race is heating up, with Councilman Julian Jones and Councilman Izzy Patoka, who are both running, are throwing political punches.
Monday, Jones held a press conference speaking out about mailers sent out by the Patoka campaign, reigniting the debate about redistricting.
“The deck was stacked against people and it was unnecessary and I’m not going to stand by and watch somebody twist it. As was mentioned here, try to rewrite history as if they are somehow for diversity,” Jones said.
The mailer said, “Izzy Patoka led the charge to add two seats to the Council and expand diverse representation in County Government,” along with featuring the photos of two dozen candidates. However, two of the candidates featured on the mailer said they did not approve of their image being used.
“I didn’t endorse it. I didn’t approve it, but my face was on it,” said Dr. Danita Tolson, a candidate for Baltimore County Council District 2.
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“I object to my photo being used in a manner that could lead to voters believing that I support his candidacy or his political messaging,” said Tyrod Haynes, a candidate for Baltimore County Council District 3.
Izzy Patoka fired back against the accusations, saying the photos are in the public domain and he used them on the mailer to show the diversity of candidates running for office, and to make the argument that the bill to expand the County Council, which passed in 2024, worked.
“He’s just holding press conferences during silly season,” said Baltimore County Councilman Izzy Patoka. “And as you see on the handout, no names, only illustrative. I don’t even see the word, if anybody sees the word endorsement on there, please let me know.”
However, the root of this disagreement stems back to the debate about expanding the County Council and redistricting, which was heavily debated and controversial at the time. Some community members and leaders pushed to increase the County Council to four members to further increase representation, and the redistricting map that was eventually passed was also a source of contention. Some have argued the map disenfranchises voters.
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“This is not about me. This is about the tens of thousands of Democrats in Baltimore County who were short changed. They were short changed because of a backroom deal that was done by Councilman Patoka and the Republicans,” Jones said.
However, Patoka argues in order to get anything passed, Republicans had to be part of the conversation.
“With seven council members, the math says you need five council members to create a supermajority,” Patoka said. “We have four Democrats and three Republicans. How do you get to five without engaging the Republicans? Can anyone answer that? How do you get to five? It’s a simple math question. How do you get to five for a significant historic ballot measure without engaging one Republican? And it’s even more difficult when two of the Democrats refused to participate. Julian Jones was on vacation.”
In a statement, Nick Stewart, who is also running for Baltimore County Executive weighed in, saying, “Baltimore County voters are tired of all this dirty politics and negativity. They deserve better. That’s why I was the only candidate to support the redistricting commission’s map at the outset, which would’ve taken politics out of this process.”
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