Baltimore restaurateur and Elkridge resident Bob Cockey is running for Howard County executive in 2026, joining three other Democrats on the primary ballot this spring.

With County Executive Calvin Ball unable to seek reelection because of term limits, four Democrats have launched bids for the county’s top post. Cockey enters a contest that includes state Del. Vanessa Atterbeary and County Council members Deb Jung and Liz Walsh. A fifth candidate, Del. Jessica Feldmark, dropped out of the race in early December to focus on her reelection to the House of Delegates following a cancer diagnosis.

A Howard County native and father of a local firefighter, Cockey said he decided to run for county executive after being encouraged by several people in the small business community.

“I thought I was the right person for the job,” Cockey said. “I have a business background and know what it’s like to keep a budget.”

The 76-year-old has owned and operated several restaurants in Baltimore over the years, including a seafood stall at Hollins Market, Cockey’s in Fells Point and Cockey’s Tavern in Pigtown.

This isn’t Cockey’s first foray into local politics. He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the state Senate in 2022, losing to Democrat Clarence Lam in the general election. Before that, he ran as a Democrat for the Baltimore City Council in 2020 and as a Republican for the Maryland House in 2018.

Cockey explained his shifting party affiliation with a quote by then-Sen. John F. Kennedy at Loyola College in 1958: “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer but the right answer.”

He has spoken highly of Ball, a fellow Democrat, and his leadership over the past seven years. He has also said that he has a lot in common with Councilman David Yungmann, the jurisdiction’s only elected Republican.

“I don’t think party should matter,” Cockey said, adding that President Donald Trump was the main reason he recently switched from Republican to Democrat.

If elected, Cockey said he would focus on education, economic growth and health care.

He said he’s concerned about student safety in an era marked by school shootings and wants to see more school resource officers stationed at educational buildings. Cockey also wants to use Howard County’s natural resources, such as its parks, to get kids away from their phones and involved in the community.

Cockey also said the county needs to slow growth to match its infrastructure capacity. Keeping taxes down is important, he said, as is supporting affordable homeownership.

He said he shares some officials’ concerns about the $144 million price tag of a planned new lakefront library in Columbia and suggested the money should be directed to education as well as health care.

One of Cockey’s top goals would be to make Howard County the “health hub of the East Coast” by filling more health care jobs, he said. Like many hospitals around the country, Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center, home to the county’s only emergency room, has struggled with long wait times. The hospital has partnered with county and state leaders as well as philanthropic entities to expand the number of patient beds.

More candidates could join the field by the Feb. 24 filing deadline, but Cockey said he feels good about his odds.

“I wouldn’t be running for this if I didn’t think I could win,” he said.