County

County Executive, Howard County

Vote for: 1
Term: 4 years
Candidates: 2
Election: Nov 3, 2026

What this office does: The county executive runs county government day to day, proposes the county budget and appoints department heads.

Candidates Compare by issue

Vanessa Atterbeary

Democratic

Member, Maryland House of Delegates (District 13)

The gist

Pledges disciplined budgeting to meet school funding mandates
Supports tenant protections and eviction prevention programs
Pledges financial programs helping seniors age in place
Proposes electrifying county facilities and vehicle fleet
Supports data-driven policing with independent oversight
Led Maryland's police accountability reforms as a delegate

More about Vanessa

View sources (2)

Pledges disciplined budgeting to meet school funding mandates
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“I would approach this challenge through disciplined budgeting, long-term revenue planning, and strategic economic growth.”
Supports tenant protections and eviction prevention programs
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“protecting existing residents through strong tenant protections and eviction prevention programs, expanding public and nonprofit partnerships”
Pledges financial programs helping seniors age in place
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“I will champion financial programs that help seniors age with dignity—whether that means staying safely in their homes”
Proposes electrifying county facilities and vehicle fleet
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“electrifying county facilities and fleet vehicles, expanding energy efficiency retrofits across residential and commercial buildings, incentivizing distributed solar and battery storage”
Supports data-driven policing with independent oversight
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“I support data-driven policing combined with transparent reporting, independent oversight, and continuous bias training”
Led Maryland's police accountability reforms as a delegate
About Vanessa Atterbeary
Campaign website · Vanessa Atterbeary for Howard County Executive · vanessaatterbeary.org
“That is why she led Maryland’s first-in-the-nation police accountability reforms”

Nater Kane

Green

The gist

Proposes rent stabilization capping increases at 2.25%
Supports a $30 minimum wage by 2030
Supports universal pre-K and full-day summer programs
Opposes new natural gas infrastructure
Proposes replacing school police officers with trained staff
Opposes county surveillance systems and automated ticketing
Supports public financing of all elections

More about Nater

View sources (2)

Proposes rent stabilization capping increases at 2.25%
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“we need rent stabilization that caps increases to 2.25% or CPI-U, whichever is lower.”
Supports a $30 minimum wage by 2030
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“We also abolish the tipped and sub-minimum wage and raise the minimum wage to $30 by 2030.”
Supports universal pre-K and full-day summer programs
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“pre-K needs to be available to all children, along with expansive full-day summer programs.”
Opposes new natural gas infrastructure
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“No new natural gas infrastructure, and end HOAs requiring grass lawns.”
Proposes replacing school police officers with trained staff
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“Replace the cops who, in 2025, arrested children in our schools … with appropriately trained staff and services that work”
Opposes county surveillance systems and automated ticketing
VOTE411 Voter Guide: Howard County Executive
Candidate questionnaire · League of Women Voters of Maryland (VOTE411) · onyourballot.vote411.org
“We need to dismantle Calvin’s dystopian surveillance dragnet, and stop the automated ticketing programs that do nothing for safety.”
Supports public financing of all elections
Nater Kane for Howard County Executive
Campaign website · Nater Kane for Howard County Executive · votenater.org
“get rid of lobbyists, dark money, and Citizens United, and publicly finance all elections.”

Challengers are listed first and incumbents last; otherwise candidates appear in ballot order. The Gist does not rank, rate or endorse candidates. Only positions backed by a cited source are shown; 9 issues covered in this race.