Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Wednesday picked up endorsements from two longtime members of Congress in his race for Maryland’s 2nd Congressional District seat.
At a news conference in Towson, U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer, who represents Maryland’s 5th District and has served in the House of Representatives for more than 40 years, said he believes Olszewski would be one of the finer members of the Congress.
“I was in Congress for one year before Johnny O was born,” Hoyer said. “He’s got an age group here that is wisened, some people would say old, and somebody who has seen a lot of candidates in my life.”
Hoyer was a member of the Democratic House leadership for 20 years and recruited candidates all over the country. One of those candidates he convinced to run for Congress was U.S. Rep. Dutch Ruppersbergger. The 2nd District Democrat is retiring. Olszewski is running for his open seat.
Ruppersberger, who has been in Congress for 21 years, endorsed Olszewski to take his place.
“The factor that really made my decision (to retire) easy in the end, and it was not easy right til the end, was that Johnny O was waiting,” Ruppersberger said.
Both Rupperseberger and Hoyer praised Olszewski’s leadership running Baltimore County for more than five years.
“Over the course of his public service, he’s passed common sense gun safety legislation,” Hoyer said. “He’s invested in our schools, in our teachers and of course most of all in our students.”
Ruppersberger noted that the 2nd Congressional District, which includes much of Baltimore and Carroll Counties and a small portion of Baltimore City, is diverse.
“Johnny’s going to have to deal with far left, far right,” Ruppersberger said. “You have Carroll County. You can’t get much more conservative than Carroll County.”
Olszewski is running in the May Democratic primary. He is the clear establishment candidate, picking up dozens of endorsements, including Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Andrienne Jones.
There are several other candidates in the primary race, including Del. Harry Bhandari.
"The core of this campaign is not endorsements, but my connections to the district," Bhandari said in a statement. "I'm running to give back to the community which has given me so much."
Bhandari said he is looking forward to working alongside Rep. Hoyer next year.
There are several candidates running for the Republican nomination including conservative radio talk show host Kim Klacik. An outspoken supporter of Former President Donald Trump, Klacik ran unsuccessfully for a different congressional seat four years ago, but was able to raise more than $8 million.
Olszewski said if he and Klacik end up competing against each other in the general election, “There couldn’t be a more stark contrast between the candidates if that were the race.”
Olszewski said he wants to work across the aisle without compromising principles.
“I’m a proud Democrat but like Dutch and that legacy will work with anyone to get things done.”
