Draft:Steuart Pittman

Steuart L. Pittman Jr. (born September 11, 1961, in Davidsonville) is an American politician and the current County Executive of Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Pittman was elected County Executive in 2018 after defeating incumbent Steve Schuh in the General Election and was re-elected to the position in 2022 after defeating Jessica Haire. He is the tenth Anne Arundel County Executive.

Early life and education
Pittman was born in Davidsonville, Maryland to Steuart L. Pittman Sr. and Barbara Pittman on September 11, 1961. He is the second of his mother's three children, while his father had four other children in a previous marriage. He was raised between homes at his family farm in Davidsonville and Washington, D.C. where he attended St. Albans School, a private school for boys. Pittman then attended the University of Chicago, from which he graduated with a Bachelor's in political science and Latin American studies in 1985.

Community organizing work
Pittman began working for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in 1984 as a community organizer while he was still enrolled in school. After graduation, he would transfer his work to Des Moines for four years where he continued his prior work as a community organizer. After six years with ACORN, Pittman returned to Washington, D.C. in 1990 where he became the Field Director for the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a job which he held for two years. After two years he spent at the NLIHC, Pittman returned to ACORN in 1992, acting as Director for National Campaigns for another two years. During his time at both ACORN and NLIHC, Pittman fought for environmental preservation, helped bring outside investment to the neighborhoods he worked on behalf of, and helped to be introduced to the levers of local governance.

Farm work
Pittman officially left ACORN in 1994, where he would return to his family farm in Davidsonville and dedicated his time to raising his daughter, Jesse. For the next 17 years, he would spend his time away from the public eye, instead opting to focus on tending to the family farm and assisting in training horses at Dodon Farm, which he owns. In 2011, inspired by the horse training he had been a part of, Pittman returned to advocacy work by founding the Retired Racehorse Project, a nonprofit organization that specializes in nurturing and training horses for their lives and careers after they have passed their competitive peak.

Entry into politics
Pittman's first foray into direct political action came during his time as President of the Maryland Horse Council, a position he held from 2009 to 2013. The Maryland Horse Council is tasked with lobbying local and state governments to pursue legislation with the goals of the local horse industry in mind. Steuart would shift away from equine-centric work in 2017, where he formally launched his run for Anne Arundel County Executive on December 16th at his farm in Davidsonville. Before running for Anne Arundel County Executive, Steuart never held publicly elected office. Pittman's campaign strategy focused on community outreach and engagement to forge relationships through face-to-face connections. This would prove to be successful, as Pittman was able to defeat incumbent Steve Schuh by a margin of 10,667 votes, or 4.7% during the 2018 United States Elections.

As Anne Arundel County Executive
Pittman was sworn in on December 3rd, 2018 at the Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts in Annapolis. During the speech given at his inauguration, Pittman stated, “If you want a voice in this government, you don't get it by who you know or how much money is in your bank account. You get it by building community.” Pittman would also voice his intent to fight for environmental justice, supporting educators and first responders, prioritizing ethical infrastructure developments, and placing the needs of constituents first ahead of corporate interests through effective community outreach and securing equitable treatment of constituents. After a unanimous nomination in the 2022 primary election, Pittman successfully defended his position after a challenge from Anne Arundel County's 7th District Councilwoman, Jessica Haire by a margin of 16,417 votes, or 7.6% during the 2022 United States Elections.

Community Engagement
On January 24th, 2019, Pittman launched the Office of Community Engagement and Constituent Services, which bolstered the pre-existing Office of Constituent Services to also cover initiatives that ensure constituent involvement in the political developments of the county. This is achieved through the appointment of three constituent service officers and a coordinator to serve the seven County Council districts and ensure that smaller localized communities have a way to be engaged in the decision-making processes of the County Executive.

Climate Change
On July 28th, 2020, Pittman issued a directive to the county's Central Services to begin replacing the county's fleet of vehicles with electric vehicles. The directive also lays out the plans for additional infrastructure and maintenance that will need to be provided for the new cars and also stipulates that an annual report will be provided to monitor the progress made during the transition. On June 7th, 2021, the Anne Arundel County Council passed a bill creating an independent Resilience Authority agency, which is tasked with ensuring that future construction projects will meet new codes specifically designed to mitigate the effects of climate change. Pittman oversaw the creation of the agency as the head of the Anne Arundel Executive branch, and the Authority has moved forward on working to protect the City Dock in Annapolis. On March 29th, 2022, Pittman introduced Executive Order 57 and signed Bill 19-22 which committed the County to use all-renewable energy for its governmental operations by 2030, and to begin construction of a solar energy farm in Glen Burnie, respectively. The solar energy site will be jointly operated by the county and Ameresco and is expected to provide taxpayers with $6.75 million in savings, while also providing clean energy which will assist in fulfilling the goals set in Executive Order 57.

Infrastructure Development
On May 13th, 2021, Pittman signed and passed Plan2040, which is the county's General Development Plan. The plan divides the county into nine regions and places residents alongside urban planners in a position to be able to dictate their desires for the future of infrastructure developments in the region. Embedded in the legislation are calls for the redevelopment of existing areas with a focus on environmental conservation, rather than opting to continue further sprawls of urbanization across the county. The first round of applications to become a member of a Region Plan Stakeholder Advisory Committee were opened to the general public a little more than a month later on June 22nd. The first regions opened for applications were the areas surrounding Laurel, Severna Park, and Annapolis.

Election Results

 * 2022 General Election for County Executive
 * {| class= "wikitable"

!Name !! Party !! Votes !! Percent !! Outcome
 * Steuart Pittman || Democratic || 115,421 || 53.7% || Won
 * Jessica Haire || Republican || 99,004 || 46.1% || Lost
 * Other Write-Ins || || 369 || 0.2% || Lost
 * }
 * 2022 Primary Election for County Executive
 * {| class= "wikitable"
 * }
 * 2022 Primary Election for County Executive
 * {| class= "wikitable"

!Name !! Party !! Votes !! Percent !! Outcome
 * Steuart Pittman || Democratic || 43,130 || 100.00% || Won
 * }
 * 2018 General Election for County Executive
 * {| class= "wikitable"
 * {| class= "wikitable"

!Name !! Party !! Votes !! Percent !! Outcome
 * Steuart Pittman || Democratic || 118,572 || 52.3% || Won
 * Steve Schuh || Republican || 107,905 || 47.6% || Lost
 * Other Write-Ins || || 259 || 0.1% || Lost
 * }
 * 2018 Primary Election for County Executive
 * {| class= "wikitable"
 * }
 * 2018 Primary Election for County Executive
 * {| class= "wikitable"

!Name !! Party !! Votes !! Percent !! Outcome
 * Steuart Pittman || Democratic || 32,243 || 100.0% || Won
 * }
 * }