Zirkin Crosses Party Lines to Endorse Kittleman

Howard County Republican State Sen. Allan Kittleman is getting an unusual endorsement at his campaign event Tuesday afternoon for a run for Howard County executive.

Baltimore County Democratic State Sen. Bobby Zirkin said he is supporting Kittleman's run for his new role at an event at Lake Kittamaqundi.

"Yeah, I'm supporting him," Zirkin said by phone on his way to the afternoon announcement.

"[Kittleman] is smart, independent, cares a great deal and has a great legal mind," Zirkin said. "What more do you want? If you stuck a D behind his name would that make him better?"

Kittleman, a fiscal conservative, cemented his reputation as an independent voice in 2011 when he broke with members of his own party to openly support same-sex marriage. The decision, nearly a year before the General Assembly passed the legislation, cost him his position as Senate Minority Leader.

The senator appears to have followed in the footsteps of his father Robert Kittleman, who served in the state Senate from 1983 until 2004. The elder Kittleman was was active in Howard County in the civil rights movement and lead a chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Kittleman's announcement Tuesday officially kicks off the two-term senator's expected campaign to succeed outgoing County Executive Ken Ulman.

Ulman is completing his second and final term as executive. 

Ten days ago, the lakeside pavilion was the site of Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown's announcement that he had selected Ulman to be his running mate in the 2014 gubernatorial election.