A month out from the Maryland primary election, one Democratic candidate for Anne Arundel County executive has pulled far ahead, at least in terms of fundraising.

County Councilwoman Allison Pickard had more than $407,000 in her campaign account as of May 12, according to her latest filing with state elections officials — more than double what her opponents have on hand.

“Voters have responded enthusiastically to our focus on tackling the rising cost of living and defending Anne Arundel County from the harms of the Trump administration,” Pickard said.

County Councilwoman Allison Pickard, a Democrat who is running for county executive, worries that the police department could be turning away from the critical and creative thinking to help people that Thomas encouraged.

“We need serious leadership, strong leadership, right now moving us through this crisis. If the answer at the end of the day is really a five-plus-year moratorium, it’s devastating.” 

Pickard, who previously served on the school board, has been a champion of housing policy and is running on a platform that emphasizes her experience in that arena.

Describing herself as “battle-tested” in an interview last summer, Pickard said she has “the vision, leadership skills and track record to get things done.”

That angers County Councilwoman Allison Pickard, a Glen Burnie Democrat.

“It’s not acceptable to me,” Pickard said. “The environment that’s been created is not acceptable to me when we’re talking about productive residents of our cities and states that have been living and paying taxes peacefully in our country and, yes, maybe they’ve overstayed a visa. I think the tactics that are being deployed are contrary to who we are as Americans.”

County Councilwoman Allison Pickard, a Democrat who represents Glen Burnie, expressed dismay about ICE enforcement operations.

“Is this the new normal? Is this what we should all be expecting not just in Anne Arundel County but across the country? ICE just rolls in at 11 in the morning on a sunny day and there’s gunfire,” Pickard said. “It’s upsetting to know somebody was shot three times at 11 in the morning on Christmas Eve in my community.”

“I know what we’re doing at the local level both from a training perspective and an accountability perspective after an incident happens. I just don’t know if this incredible ramp up of ICE, are they going to be held to that same level of scrutiny?” Pickard said. “I think it’s something we should all be asking, no matter where you fall on the issue.”

Her cosponsor on the legislation, Councilwoman Allison Pickard, emphasized the unanimous support for the legislation.

“The Council made it clear that safe housing isn’t seasonal,” the Glen Burnie Democrat said in a statement. “Just as landlords must keep homes warm in the coldest months, they now have a clear responsibility to keep them livable during extreme heat. No resident should have to choose between unsafe temperatures and the place they call home.”

Hummer and Councilwoman Allison Pickard, a Glen Burnie Democrat, highlighted three measures:

• a law that requires developments over 10 units to designate 10% of units as “moderately priced."

• a law that allows developers to build more than zoning allows if they include residences for the county’s essential workforce.

• a law that encourages redeveloping run-down commercial properties with housing.

“We’ve done a tremendous amount since 2018 compared to the decades before,” Pickard said. “We have persevered over the last seven years in some ways in representing that silent voice that aren't in the chambers banging their fists on the table giving their two minutes of testimony: 'Not in our backyard.'"

But on the other side was Councilwoman Allison Pickard, a Glen Burnie Democrat and proponent of bolstering the county’s housing stock. She expressed frustration that residents seem to push back every time a housing project is proposed in or near their communities.

“When does it stop? Why do we, the stably housed and financially secured, get to stop the next generation from owning homes?” Pickard asked. “And that’s what we’re doing. We do it at every turn.”

“County Councilwoman Allison Pickard, a Glen Burnie Democrat, said rolling back the workforce housing incentive could alter the county’s future irrevocably. She called on her council colleagues to reject Volke’s measure. 

“We are denying an entire generation homeownership and the American dream,” said Pickard, an Anne Arundel County executive hopeful, about the bill’s potential. “We just need the political courage to change the narrative around this issue.”

More than a year away from the primary election, three people already are running to succeed Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman in 2026. Councilwoman Allison Pickard, who represents the Glen Burnie area, was the first to declare her candidacy, in December.