Anne Arundel County Democrats on Saturday selected Dylan Behler, a party activist and former General Assembly staffer, as their choice to fill a vacancy in the House of Delegates.

“It feels a little surreal,” Behler said after the vote at Annapolis Middle School. “But I’m excited to get to work and bring our communities back together and address the crises that are facing our state right now: the budget crisis and the Trump administration and the effect that’s having on our state.”

At 26, Behler would be the youngest member of the General Assembly.

Behler’s name will be forwarded to Gov. Wes Moore to fill the House of Delegates vacancy created last month when then-Del. Shaneka Henson was selected to fill a vacancy in the state Senate. The delegate seat is for District 30A, which includes the Greater Annapolis area.

Behler earned 10 votes from the Anne Arundel County Democratic Central Committee, besting progressive activist Chrissy Holt, who garnered seven votes, and Annapolis Alderman Brooks Schandelmeier, who received one. Other candidates were Abigail Diehl, a small-business owner, and Lindsay Donahue, who works in health IT, who both ran unsuccessfully for Congress last year.

Behler currently works for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and previously worked for U.S. Rep. Sarah Elfreth when she was in the state Senate. He’s a member of the Democratic Central Committee and voted for himself, which is allowed, though he did not participate in the committee’s closed-door deliberations after public interviews of the five candidates.

Behler touted his experience in helping Democrats win elections. He was a deputy manager of Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman’s first campaign in 2018 and led county Democrats last year in campaigning for school board and judge seats.

“I have tangible experience fighting for our Democratic values,” Behler said.

He talked about his perspective that government can be a force for good in people’s lives, saying that he benefited from Medicaid and school lunch programs as a child in Southern Anne Arundel and went to college with the help of Pell Grants.

Holt, meanwhile, underscored her lengthy and varied experience in advocacy, including for improved health care, driven by challenges faced in getting care for her son. Holt said she would support the governor’s initiatives and work with the district’s other representatives — Henson and Del. Dana Jones — on issues ranging from education to health care.

During Saturday’s nearly three-hour meeting, perhaps the most unusual moment came when Schandelmeier was asked about criticism he received for actions while he served as acting mayor of Annapolis, filling in for Gavin Buckley.

Schandelmeier took a memorable turn in a wrestling ring during a community festival, playing a character during a “lucha libre” wrestling match — a moment that was photographed in the local newspaper, The Capital Gazette.

“It was a good time; it was relatively harmless fun,” Schandelmeier said, adding that government need not always be “buttoned up.”

But he recalled that he also had very serious duties as acting mayor, responding to a homicide in a grocery store parking lot.

“That was a bad day,” he said. “I’m still kind of shaken.”

When vacancies occur in the Maryland General Assembly, the task of nominating replacements is vested with the local political party central committees. Over the years, there have been attempts to pass a state law to change the process to involve special elections or midterm elections, but they have failed.

Proponents of changing the system argue that voters should select their delegates and senators, rather than having them chosen by the relatively small group of party central committee members.

Behler’s name will be sent to the governor, who has the final say on appointing new members to the Maryland General Assembly to fill vacancies. He can appoint only new members who have been nominated by a party central committee.