A corporate lawyer and active Baltimore County booster who once worked for then-Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley will launch his bid for the county’s top elected office this week, in what’s expected to be a competitive spring 2026 primary.

Nick Stewart, 40, is a partner at the Duane Morris LLP legal firm, specializing in business law. The former Baltimore County school board member cofounded We the People — Baltimore County, an advocacy and good governance organization that advances pro-growth and pro-housing causes.

Stewart, a Democrat, wants to distinguish himself with a platform that emphasizes the need for new housing and development to address the county’s stagnating population and declining revenues. He has defined his message as “pro-growth” and “progressive,” and he hopes to appeal to moderates as a non-career politician with a business background.

Long rumored to be entering the ring, Stewart said he felt compelled to “put up or shut up.”

“I love this county. I’ve grown up here. I would like my kids to be able to live here as well,” Stewart said. “That’s becoming less and less possible, to be very clear.”

The Catonsville resident and father of four joins what’s expected to be a heated — and crowded — field. Baltimore County Councilmember Pat Young, another Catonsville resident and Democrat, declared his intent to run in February, and the race is expected to attract more candidates. Baltimore County hasn’t elected a Republican county executive in more than three decades.

Raised in the Hunt Valley area, Stewart attended Dulaney High School and the University of Maryland, College Park, where he met his wife, Katie. He said they are grounded by their Christian faith and a call to service.

After graduating college, Stewart applied for a fellowship in O’Malley’s administration. The former mayor appealed to him as a data-driven leader with finesse over big bureaucracies. When O’Malley became governor, Stewart went with him as a speechwriter and press aide before heading to law school in 2007.

As a new lawyer, Stewart clerked for the Supreme Court of Maryland and then entered private law practice, where he has worked for 14 years. In 2014, he unsuccessfully ran for a Maryland House of Delegates seat in the Democratic primary.

“I wanted to continue to find ways to serve,” he said about losing. “That was in my blood.”

Stewart was appointed to the Baltimore County Board of Education, a position he hoped would complement his experience on the county’s Workforce Development Board. He attempted to advocate for more skills-based programming for schoolchildren starting in middle school and suggested the board create public data dashboards.

But Stewart said he left after the board became overwhelmed with partisan fervor, spawned by President Donald Trump’s first term in the White House.

He turned his focus to Southwest Visions Foundation, a community development corporation for Southwest Baltimore County. There, he examined Baltimore County’s master plan, prepared by the planning department every four years to outline a growth strategy.

But he said the planning department’s guidance often was ignored. In addition, he said he’s been rattled watching councilmembers defer to “councilmanic courtesy,” the practice that encourages members to support land-use decisions made by fellow councilmembers.

County councilmembers, he said, have abused that practice, knowing they won’t be challenged.

“What it says is, unless you know somebody,” Stewart said, “you can’t really do business here.”

On his first day in office, Stewart said, he would commit to instructing the Office of Law to challenge councilmanic courtesy as unlawful and a violation of the U.S. Constitution. If that fails, Stewart said, he would support adding at-large members to the council in hopes of expanding the body with younger, more progressive members.

Stewart sees housing and growth as key to the race. He’s using the same fundraising team as Gov. Wes Moore, and his policy advisers include lobbyist Tom Coale, a top housing advocate in Annapolis.

But housing reforms have not been an easy sell in Baltimore County, where community opposition has helped stall, stop or limit new housing growth in certain areas. Although voters across Maryland have told pollsters they want more action on housing and more government policy solutions, elected officials in Baltimore County say the opinions they hear from constituents are far more nuanced.

An April poll from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, identified housing as a “major issue” among residents, tied with local taxes and fees. It ranked behind only crime and public safety and high household energy bills.

The pro-housing lobby, sometimes referred to as YIMBYs, for “yes in my backyard,” sees promise in Stewart’s campaign. Though former County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr., now a U.S. congressman, adopted housing as a pet issue, the County Council wielded even more influence over economic development.

With the council set to grow in size and several members expected to step away, Stewart and others see an opening for change.

“It is worth candidates trying for a positive, pro-community investments message,” said Dan Reed, regional policy director at Greater Greater Washington, a left-leaning think tank that has polled Marylanders about housing issues. “There’s an appetite for candidates who are going to speak to that need.”

There are open executive races in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Howard and Montgomery counties next year, and housing is expected to be an issue in each.

Reed said Baltimore County voters are supportive of more housing options, based on their polling. Constituents have also told pollsters they’re likely to vote out elected officials not interested in making housing more affordable.

Stewart said the county is at a “tipping point” that needs to be addressed by the next wave of leadership. Homes have become more expensive, retirees and older adults are struggling to age in place, and property taxes are rising steadily. And very little affordable housing, outside what has been mandated by a federal consent decree, has been built in Baltimore County in the last decade.

He thinks areas such as Security Square Mall, Lutherville Station, East Point Mall and parts of Towson should be open for business. And the county executive, he said, should lead the way.

Stewart has other big ideas, many based on an “abundance agenda” that local government should be better at getting things done. Government should be a partner to people rather than obstructive, he said.

He also wants to establish the county’s first LGBTQIA+ commission. Other goals are loftier: hiring a chief “modernization” officer to reform how Baltimore County operates, creating a problem-solving “strike team” in the county executive office and raising county workers’ salaries.

He said he would also aim to spend one week every year substitute teaching in the Baltimore County Public Schools to better understand the challenges there.

“If you’re willing to consider a fresh, solutions-based approach to government,” he said, “that’s what we’re offering.”