Lansdowne's Bailey announces District 12 candidacy

Brian Bailey grew up in Lansdowne, graduated from Lansdowne High School and got his bachelor's degree from University of Maryland,Baltimore County.

On Monday, June 24, Bailey announced his candidacy for one of three open seats to serve in the House of Delegates in the new District 12, which includes parts of Catonsville, Arbutus and Howard County.

He released a video with his campaign announcement and said he plans to use similar and additional technology to interact with voters over the course of the next year.

"This race is about the future of District 12," Bailey said. "Now is the time ... for people to kind of decide what kind of people they want to send to Annapolis for the next term, for the next four years."

His filing follows that of Howard County residents Terri Hill and Clarence Lam and Catonsville resident Eric Ebersole. All are Democrats.

"I think voters are going to look for people who have been active in their communities," Bailey said.

"You can't sit idly by and wait for things to happen," the 28-year-old Democrat said. "Progress is fought for."

Del. Liz Bobo, who represents Howard County in District 12B, announced her retirement in September 2012.

Dels. James Malone Jr. and Steven DeBoy, who represent District 12A, which includes Arbutus and parts of Catonsville and Howard County, each announced their retirement in mid-April.

"People know them, people respect them and people do not hesitate to call them if there's a problem or a concern in the community," Bailey said.

The three will represent their areas in their last session in January.

"Because the district is new, because District 12 is new and because Jimmy and Steve and Liz served so admirably for so long ... I have decided that I want to devote my life to public service," Bailey said.

Redistricting by the state eliminated the subdistricts for the 2014 election and created a larger District 12. So, no longer will one delegate represent only Howard County and two represent predominantly Baltimore County.

Bailey said that, if elected, he plans to focus on maintaining a good public school system in both counties, clean energy, job creation, investing in transportation and infrastructure and social justice, continuing the direction with which Malone, DeBoy and Bobo have taken throughout their terms.

"Those are the things that we will tackle," he said. "All the while continuing to provide the constituent service that people have come to expect."

Bailey is no stranger to politics. He ran for 1st District County Councilman four years ago and is a former chairman of the Baltimore County Democratic Party.

He has been president of the Lansdowne Improvement Association and was chairman of the Southwest Area Educational Advisory Council to the Baltimore County Board of Education.

Bailey worked for the American Urological Association for a number of years before he fought and beat a cancerous germ cell tumor in his chest in the spring of 2012.

Now that he is in remission, Bailey said he is ready to return to his life of public service. He said he plans to be "a fulltime state legislator" should he be elected.