(GLEN BURNIE – June 22, 2026) – Pete Smith was seven years old. His little brother was five.

As big brothers do, Pete had grown impatient with his shadow—that little boy who followed him everywhere, who wanted to go wherever Pete went. On this particular day, Pete ran across the street and told his brother not to follow him.

His brother followed anyway.

A car came. The five-year-old didn’t see it in time. He was struck. Pete ran back, ran into the house, found his mother.

“The baby got hit. The baby got hit. It’s my fault. It’s my fault.”

His mother rushed past him to her child. But Pete stood there, repeating those four words like a prayer he couldn’t stop saying.

“It’s my fault.”

Years passed. That same little brother found his way into trouble—into a life of what Pete calls mischief. Pete went into the Marine Corps. But he never stopped carrying those four words.

To this day—as a Major, as a County Councilman, as a candidate for Anne Arundel County Executive—Pete Smith believes it is his job to help that same brother. Because he felt like he let him down. Because he was the big brother.

People sometimes get uncomfortable when Pete tells this story publicly. They think he’s airing family pain that should stay private. But that’s not why he tells it.

He tells it for every young Black man who has a brother, a cousin, a friend who went the wrong way.

“That’s not somebody else’s brother,” Pete says. “God gave you that brother. That’s your brother. If he goes to jail, he’s still my brother. If he goes straight, he’s still my brother. No matter what he does, I’m always going to be his big brother.”

He didn’t tell that story to talk about his brother. He told it to talk to us—to tell Black men everywhere: stop looking down on people. See them. They’re still your brother. Lift them up regardless of what situation they find themselves in.

That is the moral architecture of Pete Smith. And it is why—whether he’s delivering toys to children across Maryland, building community centers for seniors in West County, or walking fifty miles across Anne Arundel County to earn a vote—everything he does flows from the same source.

BMORENews is proud to endorse Pete Smith for Anne Arundel County Executive.

What I Saw on the Road

I have been covering politics since 1994. I have seen candidates come and go. I have seen promises made and broken. I have seen photo ops dressed up as conviction.

What I witnessed when I drove down to Anne Arundel County to cover Pete Smith and Sheriff Everett Sesker walking the length of the county—that was something different entirely.

When I caught up with them, they had already walked roughly 30 miles. These were two tired men. But they kept moving.

As I listened to why they were doing this, I heard two leaders talk about their commitment to Anne Arundel County with a sincerity you simply cannot manufacture. They wanted the people of this county to understand that they are so committed to its future that they were willing to put their bodies on the line to prove it—step by step, mile by mile.

I have covered politics for over 30 years. I have never seen that kind of commitment from a candidate—not like this.

I think of Pastor Robert Turner at Empowerment Temple, who walks to Washington regularly as an act of faith and witness. Pete and the Sheriff walked in that same spirit.

What I saw that day was two healthy Black men—physically capable of serving, mentally sharp, and morally grounded.

Frankly, that was all I needed to see.

Board of Education President Gloria Dent—herself a 26-year Army veteran and Command Sergeant Major—told me that she and her husband, who served 33 years in the military, had planned to meet Pete at the finish line. Pete beat them there.

When she called him, he said: “I’m not just going to ask people for their vote—I’m going to earn it. I want people to know I walked fifty miles in their shoes.”

That’s Pete Smith.

The Most Qualified Candidate in the Race

Anne Arundel Democratic leader Everett Browning, also the former acting Chair of the Maryland Democratic Party and political advisor, said it plainly: “Pete Smith is the most qualified candidate in this race. And the record backs that up.”

Start with the military. Pete Smith has given 28 years of service to the United States as a Marine Corps Major, serving as both an Intelligence Officer and a comptroller. He was deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq.

That means he understands not just strategy, but sacrifice. Not just budgets, but what’s at stake when leadership fails.

He worked at Fort Meade, one of the most critical economic engines in the region. His military career was not ceremonial—it was substantive, technical, and forged under fire.

And in a world where we have watched municipal governments across the country brought to their knees by ransomware attacks—where hackers have shut down 911 systems, crippled hospital networks, and paralyzed city services—Pete Smith’s expertise in cybersecurity is not a résumé line. It is a shield.

Anne Arundel County deserves a county executive who doesn’t have to call someone to explain what a cyberattack is. Pete Smith is that someone.

A Decade Plus of Legislative Achievement

For the past 14 years on the Anne Arundel County Council, Pete Smith has been a workhorse. Browning notes that Smith has passed more meaningful legislation than any other council member—legislation protecting schools, the environment, and affordability.

That’s not a talking point. That’s a track record.

He fought to ensure full school funding when previous county executives wanted to shortchange children. He championed tax breaks for veterans so they could stay in their homes. He pushed for technology upgrades for law enforcement to prevent and solve crime. He helped develop conference space at Arundel Mills to keep major events and high school graduations in Anne Arundel County.

He also served as the county’s Military and Veterans Liaison and sat on the Board of Health. He has been embedded in this community for more than 20 years—not as a politician looking for a next step, but as a neighbor invested in the outcome.

And there is this: Pete Smith lost a race in 2018. The world moved on. People said he was done—go back to the military, go back home.

He didn’t.

Every single day after that loss, he kept fighting for Anne Arundel County. He stayed present. He stayed committed. When he ran again in 2022, it was a landslide.

For every young Black man reading this: your goal may not happen at 25. It may not happen at 35. But if you stay in the room, stay in the fight, stay rooted in your community, your moment will come.

Pete Smith is living proof.

We don’t quit. We just adjust the timeline.

Building West County – The Severn Intergenerational Center

Gloria Dent has known Pete Smith for ten years. When she first came to the Board of Education, resources were not reaching West County.

She needed someone who understood the terrain—who understood the arc from Cherry Hill to Brooklyn Park, down Ritchie Highway, into neighborhoods that had been overlooked for generations.

Pete told her: “If you join forces with me, we can do great things. We just have to be aligned in doing those great things.”

Together, they fought for West County.

One of the most concrete results is the Severn Intergenerational Center—a full-service community space for seniors and families that Pete helped bring to life by passing the legislation to fund and authorize it.

West County had no decent gathering place for its elders. Pete made it happen. Today, it is the number one community center in the area.

Every year, Pete hosts a free senior holiday meal at that center—not as a campaign event, but as a neighbor.

That is what Gloria Dent means when she says: “His humility is his secret weapon.”

Fifteen Years of Giving

For the past 15 years, Pete has led Toys for Tots across Central Maryland—not as a ceremonial figurehead, but as a hands-on coordinator putting hundreds of thousands of toys into the hands of children who might otherwise have nothing on Christmas morning.

Sergeant First Class Cynthia Brooks, a U.S. Army veteran who served alongside Pete, put it best:

“I served with Pete Smith, and I am proud to have served alongside that Marine. His spirit, his commitment, his impact on the community—these are not things you can fake. You see a person’s true character in uniform, and Pete Smith’s character is beyond reproach. What he does for families throughout Maryland, especially the children, year after year, for nearly twenty years—that tells you everything you need to know about who this man is. I’m not endorsing a politician. I’m endorsing a patriot.”

Running in a Diverse County

Anne Arundel County is one of the most strategically significant counties in America—the Port of Baltimore, BWI Airport, Fort Meade, and the Route 295 corridor lined with federal infrastructure.

As Gloria Dent put it: “You cannot be a one-dimensional leader. You have to understand how counties are run, how government works, and what the people need—and put all of that together.”

Pete Smith understands all of it.

Look at his campaign finance reports. Dent was direct: very few people of color have invested financially in Pete’s campaign. But those who have—Black, white, and across political lines, including Republicans who switched registration to vote for him—did so because of who he is.

“It’s not loving Pete because he’s Black,” Dent said. “It’s not loving Pete because he’s a Marine. It’s loving Pete because of who he is about people—his humanity, his unshakable will to try to do better. It crosses all lines.”

That is what it looks like when a candidate runs on character in a diverse county.

The Endorsements

Joy Thomas Moore—mother of Governor Wes Moore and an Anne Arundel County resident for more than 30 years—has endorsed Pete Smith.

“He has been and will be a champion for education, public safety, economic growth, inclusion, and opportunity for all,” Moore said. “He’s part of a new generation of leaders who will unify Anne Arundel.”

She pointed to his military service, his quiet acts of service, and his vision for housing and environmental challenges.

Pete responded: “Joy Moore’s lived experience and knowledge is worthy of respect. I’m honored that she sees leadership qualities in me that can help our community.”

Board of Education President Gloria Dent, Senator Shaneka T. Henson, Delegate Jheanelle Wilkins, and Delegate Mike Rogers have also endorsed him.

When that many credible voices align, it signals more than support—it signals confidence.

A Chance to Make History

If Pete Smith wins tomorrow, he will become the first Black County Executive in Anne Arundel County history.

Anne Arundel County is home to nearly 600,000 people. It surrounds Maryland’s capital and borders Baltimore City. Yet it has never had a Black leader at the top of county government.

Pete Smith—a man who experienced homelessness as a child, carried the weight of family trauma, served in war zones, lost and came back stronger—is now in position to change that.

He got here through discipline, service, brotherhood, and commitment.

Our Verdict

I have covered Maryland politics since 1994. I know what political performance looks like—and I know what real leadership looks like.

Pete Smith is the real thing.

He has the military background to manage complex operations. The legislative experience to move policy. The cybersecurity expertise to protect infrastructure. The community roots to understand people. And the heart to lead with humanity.

Everett Browning is right. Gloria Dent is right. Joy Thomas Moore is right.

Pete Smith is the most qualified candidate in this race.

Anne Arundel County—the moment is here. The man is ready.

Vote Pete Smith for County Executive – June 23.

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*Doni Glover is the founder and publisher of BMORENews.com, now in its 24th year of covering Black Baltimore, and the founder of the Joe Manns Black Wall Street Awards, now in its 15th year. He is also the host of the Emmy-nominated Doni Glover podcast and The Doni Glover Show on WMAR-TV 2.*
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