Howard County Councilmember Deb Jung is the first candidate to emerge in the 2026 race for Howard County Executive Calvin Ball’s seat.

Ball, a Democrat, is term limited after voters elected him in 2018 and again in 2022. Howard County code states an executive cannot serve more than two consecutive four-year terms.

The first day candidates could file to run in Maryland’s upcoming election cycle was Feb. 25. Though records show Jung has not filed her candidacy with the state, she registered a committee in March to raise money for her campaign.

Jung said she plans to formally launch that campaign Monday evening with a speech delivered to friends and family at Cedar Lane Park’s east pavilion. Her announcement comes early in the election cycle, giving the Democrat more than a year to campaign leading up to the primary election in June 2026.

Voters have twice elected Jung to county council representing District 4, which includes much of Columbia and is home to major institutions such as the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and Howard County General Hospital. The councilmember said she hopes to spend the next year building stronger ties with people in other parts of the county.

Jung said Friday that she was motivated to run for county executive in part because she felt the community’s priorities were “really not as well reflected in the budget as I would like to see.”

“My priorities would be the priorities of our community,” Jung said.

Her announcement comes just days after Ball unveiled his budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, which recommends $100 million in spending cuts to mitigate “extraordinary fiscal headwinds” at the federal and state levels. Jung criticized Ball’s plan for including a 5% increase for county employees’ health care contributions.

Howard County is among the wealthiest counties in Maryland and had a $2.2 billion operating budget in 2024. Yet it’s also home to thousands of federal workers, some of whom are impacted by President Donald Trump’s administration’s moves to dramatically shrink the size of the government.

As residents lose their jobs, the jurisdiction faces a possible dip in revenues from income taxes. Howard County also expects an extra $8 million in state-mandated expenses next year.

Howard County’s school board this budget cycle asked the county for $107.3 million above what the jurisdiction is legally required to contribute in the coming year. Ball called the request “unattainable and unaffordable” but set aside $39 million in new funds for the school system.

Jung named schools as one of the county’s most urgent areas of need.

“Our school district is Howard County’s crown jewel,” Jung said.

Yet it lacks the funding for capital projects, salaries and student supports, she said.

Other major priorities, Jung said, include public safety, the environment, small-business development and agricultural preservation. Jung doesn’t believe the county needs to increase taxes to balance the budget.

“We have adequate funds to pursue the priorities of the people here in Howard County,” she said.

Instead, Jung would have the county cut back on new projects. She cited a line item in Ball’s budget proposal for the creation of the county’s first public garden on a former plantation along Route 97.

“Public gardens are gorgeous,” she said. “But it’s going to cost us.”

To fund her campaign, Jung said she is planning to tap into the Citizens’ Election Fund, which encourages candidates to rely on small, private donations. Candidates who use the fund see their donations matched with county dollars but are barred from accepting money from political action committees, corporations, businesses, labor organizations or political parties.

Jung used the fund once before to win reelection to Howard County Council in 2022. Voters first elected her in 2018. Prior to that, the longtime Columbia resident worked as an attorney, primarily with nonprofits and women’s rights groups.

Jung said she wants people to know she’s a fighter for her community. She cited a recent council decision concerning a chemical company’s controversial plan to add a test plastic recycling facility at its Columbia headquarters.

Jung, who lives within 1.5 miles of W.R. Grace’s company headquarters, aligned with residents who opposed the facility and attempted to block it with a bill that would have barred research and development using commercial plastic pellets in some county zoning districts. The measure later failed in a 3-2 vote.

“But I put up a good fight,” Jung said.

The deadline for Howard County executive candidates to file for the election is 9 p.m. Feb. 24, 2026.