County Executive Looks Ahead to His Second Term



After securing a second term as county executive, John R. Leopold (R) said he plans to continue the work he began four years ago and move forward with his administration.

Leopold said he also plans to continue his office's track record of fiscal discipline, environmental protection and land preservation. He announced that his first order of business will be to work on comprehensive rezoning in the county.

 "The re-election was a confirmation of the performance of the administration of over the past four years," he said this morning. "I appreciate the continued confidence and support of the constituents."

Leopold defeated Democratic candidate Joanna Conti and Green Party candidate Mike Shay. As of 1 p.m. today, with 194 of 197 precincts reporting, Leopold secured 50.7 percent of the vote with Conti getting 43.8 percent and Shay receiving 5.4 percent.

Conti said she was pleased by the support she received in her race."I'm honored at their enthusiastic support both financially and by the things they did to [promote my campaign]," she said. "I'm disappointed by the way it turned out, but I think we ran a strong campaign."

She said she plans to stay involved and work on the issues of Anne Arundel County, though she's not yet sure what form that help will take.

Shay's campaign began celebrating last night before the results started to come in."Our campaign workers had this incredible party … It truly was a celebration that when you work on issues like we do year-round every year, we deserve [to take a day to celebrate]," he said.

The campaigned beefed up the legal department that will continue to fight development along Deep Cove River, Shay said."I'll continue to work on stopping inappropriate development," he said.

Leopold will be sworn for his second term Dec. 6.