Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman writes about all kinds of things in his weekly newsletter to residents.

The second term Democrat recently reflected on Republican President Donald Trump halting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP; the ongoing reconstruction of the Key Bridge; and the life of a local civic leader who died last month.

As he wrote in a recent edition, Pittman uses the newsletter “to make sense of the mood of the country, the mood of our county, our moment in history, and the relevance of our work in local government.”

But his writing recently got him into hot water with the county’s Ethics Commission — and not for the first time.

In a Nov. 25 order, the commission wrote that Pittman, the chair of the state Democratic Party, violated the county’s ethics code with a newsletter published earlier that month.

Pittman’s Nov. 6 letter about results in several closely watched state and city elections expressed “partisan political opinions” that amounted to “the use of the prestige of the office for the detriment of a political party, and were not usual and customary constituent services,” the commission said.

“The world watched closely as Americans went to the polls Tuesday night in Virginia, New Jersey, New York City, California, and elsewhere. It was a major temperature check to see which political party was attracting more support in these cruel and chaotic times,” Pittman’s newsletter said. “Democrats overperformed everywhere, decisively.”

The commission said in its order that it warned Pittman in advisory opinions in August 2020 and March 2024 that using the newsletter for “partisan political advocacy” was prohibited by the county’s ethics law.

After the Nov. 6 letter was published on the county website and was disseminated from the county executive’s official email address, the commission received “several inquiries” alleging Pittman used county resources for political purposes, according to the order.

County Councilman Nathan Volke, a Pasadena Republican, criticized Pittman.

“Third time is a strikeout,” Volke said. “It’s interesting to me that the chair of the Democratic party feels the best way to get his message out in terms of partisan politics is using county resources as opposed to the vast resources of the state party.”

The order said Pittman acknowledged the commission’s findings, accepted responsibility for the content of the letter, and “has fully cooperated in the resolution of this matter.”

In an interview Monday, Pittman said he respects the ethics commission, saying he believed it has a difficult task in interpreting a “very vague” ethics code.

“I’ve been very careful in the way that I write the weekly letters and the staff reviews them. We know the ethics commission reviews them especially when complaints are filed,” Pittman said. “Not everybody agrees with everything I say in my weekly letters. There’s a lot of commentary. I’m very transparent and honest about what I think.”

He added: “That includes being critical of policies … especially when those policies are going to impact the lives of county residents and government.”

He said he felt compelled to weigh in on the elections because he believes the results were indicative of the way people across the country were thinking.

“I did it like a reporter would ... I think I used the word Democrats, which may have been the problem,” Pittman said.

The commission and Pittman set out to resolve the matter without a formal complaint, contested hearing and finding of facts and law by the commission.

Instead, the commission announced that Pittman violated ethics law and publicly reprimanded him for it. It also ordered Pittman to “cease and desist” from using county resources, including official county communications, to express “partisan political commentary” or to endorse or oppose any candidates.

Pittman also agreed to “implement or continue measures to ensure compliance with county ethics requirements, including, but not limited to, review of all future communications by appropriate staff for compliance with Ethics Code requirements,” the order said.

It was signed by Pittman, County Attorney Greg Swain and the ethics commission chair, Dale Kelberman.

Even though Pittman accepts the commission’s finding that he violated the ethics code, he believes he did not run afoul of the principles underlying the rules: keeping political campaigning and governing separate.

“When I write what I really think matters to people, it is commenting on the political arena. And it’s hard to avoid,” Pittman said. “I will keep writing weekly letters. I will be careful about it and hope I don’t cross that line.”