2026 County Office Candidate Survey Results

2026 Primary: Early Voting - Thursday, June 11, 2026 through Thursday, June 18, 2026
Election Day - Tuesday June 23, 2026

Candidate responses to a survey focusing on LGBTQ+ issues are linked below. Please click on the individual candidates' names to view their responses.

As a 501(c)(3) organization, CARY does not meet with political candidates individually in the capacity of a CARY member or as a representative of CARY. Any statements, explicit or implied, made by any political candidate or their campaign to the contrary are inaccurate and misleading.

About the survey:

  • The questionnaire was emailed to all 4 County Executive and 14 County Council candidates on March 16, 2026 to the email addresses listed on the Maryland State Board of Elections website

  • Candidates were informed that the due date of their responses would be April 17, 2026

  • A reminder was sent on April 13, 2026 to all candidates about the due date

  • UPDATE - As of April 15, 2024, CARY had not received a response from the following candidates: Larry Doyle, Andre Gao, Trent Kittleman, and Pravin Ponnuri.

  • Candidate responses are provided in their entirety as submitted by the candidate and are for informational purposes. CARY is a registered 501(c)(3) organization and therefore does not endorse any political candidates

Candidates in the Primary Election:

County Executive

Vanessa Atterbeary

Bob Cockey

Deb Jung

Liz Walsh

District 1

Kevin Chin

James David Handley

Jean Xu

District 2

Arinze Malcolm Ifekauche

Jessica I. Nichols

District 3

Amir S. Naviwala

Christiana Rigby

District 4

Linfeng Chen

Regina Clay

Janssen Evelyn

Shamieka Preston

District 5

Cat Carter

Felita Phillips

Ryan P. O'Connor