Developers Contributed $100s of Thousands to the County Executive Expecting Absolutely Nothing in Return

The 2018 General Election results were interesting for many reasons.

First, Republicans all across the nation experienced a resounding defeat due to the Blue Wave. An electoral reaction to a criminally corrupt presidency.

The Blue Wave in Howard County was ostensibly highjacked by establishment Democrats who cloaked their positions as progressive and branded themselves as change-agents, even though Democratic leadership has led to the biggest corporate giveaways to developers. This is not to say Republican leadership is better. Far from it. When it comes to land use and zoning laws, the political party does not matter. Both Republican and Democratic leaders are under the developer grip.

Second, many expected County Executive Allan Kittleman, who was as beholden to developers as any county official, to somehow be immune from Blue Wave. For this reason, most special interest groups placed their bets overwhelmingly in his win and many contributed exclusively to his campaign.

After Kittleman’s loss, there appears to have been a scramble to get on the good side of County Executive Ball. The figure below shows campaign contributions of $250 or more made to County Executive Ball.

County Executive Ball’s best fundraising period was between December 6th and December 21, 2018, where he received nearly $168,000. No two-week period or month comes even half as close to this period of time.

Special interest groups including developers have contributed over 300 times in the past year. Between November 7, 2018 and January 8th, 2020, his campaign has received over $550,000 from such groups. Feel free to explore the following table, which shows all contributions of $250 or more.