Katie McDermott Brings Past Election Lessons To 6th District Race

ANNE ARUNDEL CO., MD — Ahead of the primary elections in June, Patch has invited candidates running to represent the region on the Anne Arundel County Council to complete a questionnaire touching on a variety of key issues.

Candidate responses will be published verbatim in the run-up to the primaries on Tuesday, June 23.

Related: Who's Running For Annapolis In 2026 Primary

Questionnaire responses for Katie McDermott, who is running to represent the county's 6th District, can be found below:

Name: Katie McDermott

Age: 65

Hometown: Annapolis

Political Affiliation: Democrat

Do you have any previous political experience? If so, please state and explain how that experience will influence your time in office if elected.

I ran for the Annapolis City Council in 2025, filing 5 weeks before the primary and came in second.

I learned that residents have much more in common on issues than some elected officials acknowledge and want greater transparency and accountability in local government.

The Annapolis short-term rental reform movement is one example where the policy was driven by special interests, the law was not enforced for years so had a 50% non-compliance rate, many different neighborhoods were impacted on neighborhood stability and housing options and the residents kept pushing for a better solution.

I was initially the only candidate that advocated for a moratorium in the face of status quo politics. The moratorium is now in place thanks to a new mayor and city council, and hopefully a better solution will be developed.

Similar issue with the 2025 proposed luxury marina complex at the Annapolis City Dock with 90-slips and boats up to 100-ft, destroying meaningful public access to the iconic views. I helped form Save Our Harbor that got over 200 people engaged in a few days, and that issue was repelled and taken off the City Council working session agenda, for now. I learned ALL of our residents and neighborhoods need a strong advocate who will not quit.

What do you believe is the single-most important issue facing voters in the district you’re looking to represent? How do you intend to address those issues?

Public trust. There will always be policy disagreements. We have big challenges now and even more ahead and we need to know, not hope, solutions are driven in the public interest, not the special interests.

I am the only candidate to advocate for enhanced public ethics, restrictions on developer contributions and an Inspector General function. I would use multiple communication strategies to improve resident awareness on what is going on, in advance, so voices can be timely heard.

I believe in community input for decision-making, not party politics mandates from the top. I also expect elected officials to be transparent about the details of legislation and not govern by headlines and will meet that basic expectation.

How do you differ from other candidates running against you?

One difference is that I am the only Democrat candidate who submitted written testimony and also testified on support of County Bill 23-26, restricting developer contributions while zoning applications are pending.

I am not afraid to speak truth to power even in my own party. I am willing to work in a non-partisan fashion, as demonstrated by my support of allowing independents to vote in the Annapolis City Primary, a reform recommended by the Charter Review Commission since the 1990s.

I ascribed to the Bill Clinton view that I am for any good idea that will help people no matter where it comes from. We need to make progress for the collective good and not govern by labels and divisiveness.

How would your work experience benefit the goals/objectives you’ve outlined in your campaign and/or the office you’re seeking?

I have lived in Anne Arundel County for 40 years, which is the same amount of time I have been a practicing attorney. My legal experience generally and in health care as a federal prosecutor and later in representing health care organizations nationwide gives me strong public safety and public health sensibilities that are well suited for the County Council issues. My civic activism the last few years gives me direct experience with how certain state and local policies are impacting our communities.

What is your opinion of the work being done by the current officeholder, and how will you improve on it?

I have high regard for our current representative and would improve on the excellent representation with additional avenues for greater resident communication and participation.

How do you believe Anne Arundel County should address data centers?

Not like Northern Virginia. There needs to be a regulatory framework that assures one county is not swamped with data centers, and that any data center is regulated to offset environmental health, land use and energy usage issues.

Unregulated rapid growth is not acceptable, and the concerns of electrical grid instability and utility usage need to be addressed before a data center is approved.

Do you believe there should be a data center moratorium or a temporary pause? Explain.

I do not support HB 120 (2026) that proposed a broad blanket moratorium, but this failed bill highlights the need for a clear regulatory strategy that is transparently communicated to residents and addresses the negative impacts on the electrical grid, land use management, the environment and other public health factors.

A temporary pause can be useful to pull a coherent strategy together for the entire State, but at least for our County.

Do you believe there should be data center regulations put in place? Explain.

Yes. If there is not a clear statewide regulatory strategy, each county needs to address the operation of data centers in each respective jurisdiction.

What steps would you take to offset data center impacts to residents’ standard of living, such as rising energy prices?

Data centers should not contribute to rising energy prices for consumers at all or grid instability, so all necessary action needs to be taken to assure that these impacts do not occur.

How would you distinguish between a good vs. bad data center? Or do you believe no data centers should be in the county/district?

A good data center is one that works collaboratively with regulatory agencies to offset the negative impacts of its operations.

Gov. Wes Moore signed bills banning agreements between local police and federal immigration officials in February. What is your opinion of the legislation?

Community trust with immigration enforcement is broken by current federal enforcement tactics.

The new policy provides more structure in requiring a judicial warrant, and does not prevent information sharing where there is truly an imminent public safety threat, nor does it prevent notice of convicted persons who are about to be released.

The transfer/removal of convicted violent offenders is encouraged. The ban allows local police to stay focused on local crime activities.

What steps would you take to support or readjust that initiative?

I would monitor the new law and practices before recommending any adjustments to assure that local public safety objectives are being met and that unconstitutional practices abate.

What is your stance on the establishment of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers in the county and/or your district?

I oppose ICE detention centers in Anne Arundel County.

What actionable plans would you undertake to address illegal immigration?

I have handled immigration appeals and asylum matters and generally believe that we need to implement and fund immigration processes that timely clear the status of individuals so they can lawfully participate in all community and job activities, obtain health care and other needed services and thrive.

This objective is not influenced as much on the local level but local government is responsible for assuring public safety and can focus on criminal actors and deploy strategies to make it safe for our immigrant communities to seek help, report crime, and obtain essential services.

Education: What is the biggest issue facing Anne Arundel County Public Schools? How would you address it?

School capacity and infrastructure. There is community concern about redistricting and overcrowding caused by an imbalance in enrollment.

We can raise salaries, but to remain competitive, it has to be a good environment for teaching and being taught.

A student brings a gun/weapon to school, which is not fitted with any metal detectors. What security measures would you advocate for to ensure student and staff safety?

This recently occurred in a county elementary school. I support behavioral threat assessment teams and would expand mental health resources to identify at risk situations and explore greater technological solutions (warning devices, cameras etc) to identify imminent threat situations.

Do you believe schools need stricter security measures? Metal detectors?

Yes, it is necessary to upgrade security in schools. Metal detectors are a simple universal precaution at public forums. I would prefer technology such as OpenGate being piloted to provide a lesser intrusive means of screening for weapons.

Anne Arundel County is experiencing a housing shortage. What steps would you take to address the crisis?

We do not have infinite land or infrastructure capacity. Objective data should drive housing needs, so luxury and private investor homes are not prioritized.

And, how does the boomer generation inventory count locally in forecasts? How much can be re-purposed to avoid new builds?

It seems we need micro-modeling, not generic overbroad state density mandates. Public and lower income housing should be the priority. I also support expanded incentives for home rental assistance or ownership rather than trickle down development impact fee waiver strategies.

What will you do to encourage affordable/public housing?

There is broad public support to develop affordable housing and to address public housing needs but the public sees luxury townhomes and condos being built that allocate a small portion to affordability.

This strategy needs to flip, and it starts with getting developer money out of decisions and not allowing the only solutions to come from for-profit developers.

Status quo politics is squandering public goodwill and we are not on a path to developing strong, affordable communities any time soon, despite much new development. Hard questions need to be asked of policymakers.

How will you address crime in the county/your district?

I support the important and effective initiatives underway, such as the crisis intervention program which focuses on a nationally recognized mental health crisis protocol and the County's Real Time Information Center (RTIC) to identify community hot spots.

I support community involvement and outreach initiatives. I also support focusing on hate crimes and support the request for security grants for faith-based institutions that did not make it in the County budget this year.