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Former Howard County executive Ken Ulman said in a statement that, if elected to lead the State Central Committee, he plans to elevate Democrats across the state at every level of the ballot, which next year will include races ranging from the local level to the presidency. (File photo)
MD Democratic Party Chair Ulman to step down in June
Listen to this articleKen Ulman will step down as chair of the Maryland Democratic Party in June, opening the door for a new central committee leader heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
Gov. Wes Moore recommended Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman to be the next chair after the party’s first vice chair, Charlene Dukes, reportedly didn’t have an interest in the role. Dukes will serve as the acting chair until the party elects its next leader during its June 21 meeting. It remains to be seen who else will seek the role.
Ulman will take on a new role “supporting” the governor’s economic growth agenda, though the specifics of his role weren’t immediately clear.
In a statement Wednesday night, Moore said Ulman’s leadership over the last year and a half was critical for Maryland Democrat’s success in the last election, in which then-Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks defeated former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in the race for U.S. Senate, and lauded him for leading the party through “an intense and demanding” election cycle.
After two terms as the Howard County executive, Ulman ran in 2014 as a candidate for lieutenant governor on a ticket with Democratic nominee Anthony Brown — now the state’s attorney general. The pair lost to Hogan and former Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford.
For the last decade, Ulman has been the president of Margrave Strategies, a Columbia-based consulting firm whose priority projects include working with the University of Maryland to build up College Park and with government officials to secure a deal to redevelop Pimlico Race Course, home to the Preakness Stakes.
The central committee elected Ulman as chair in late 2023 after Moore recommended him.
In his recommendation for Ulman’s successor, Moore said that Pittman is “the right leader for this moment.
“With an all out assault on our state and our values underway from Washington D.C., I know Steuart Pittman will put his experience and moral clarity to work to defend our state, fight back against the Trump administration, and ensure Democrats win elections,” he said in a statement.
Pittman, a Davidsonville native who was first elected as the Anne Arundel County executive in 2018, is term limited and cannot seek reelection for the county executive seat in 2026.
