'Still history to be made': Jessica Boyle-Tsottles, Alison Healey and Michelle Karczeski unseat men in Harford County elections

Nov. 25—Three Harford County women have won the general election in positions that had long been held by men.

Those women, all Republicans, are: Jessica Boyle-Tsottles, who will serve as the District E council member; Alison Healey, who will serve as state's attorney; and Michelle Karczeski, who will serve as clerk of the Circuit Court.

Healey, who will be the first woman to serve as Harford state's attorney, said she is proud of the women who ran and were victorious.

"All three of us were able to show that we were the best candidates for the position," Healey said, "but I'm incredibly proud of the message that we're able to send by holding these places in history."

The elected county executive, the other six County Council positions, the register of wills and the sheriff are all positions held by men. In the 2018 election, all of those positions, in addition to the ones won by Boyle-Tsottles, Healey and Karczeski, were held by men.

Karczeski will be the first woman elected clerk of the Circuit Court. Linda Settle currently holds that title, since James Reilly retired from the position in September, but Mary Risteau was the first woman to hold that position back in 1937.

"It amazes me that in 2022, there's still history to be made," Karczeski said.

Stephanie Hallock, a political science professor at Harford Community College, said the results are on par with national election results, with more women are getting elected each year.

"Yes, women are getting elected more," Hallock said, "but the bigger difference to me is that women are fighting more than they did. Even when they're not the winner at the end of the day, you've got more women on the ballot all over."

Each of the women elected defeated prominent Harford politicians in this year's Republican primary: Boyle-Tsottles beat incumbent County Council Vice President Robert Wagner; Healey beat incumbent State's Attorney Al Peisinger; and Karczeski beat current County Council member Chad Shrodes.

"What this election shows is that it's possible to break ... that pattern of just voting for incumbents," Hallock said.

Boyle-Tsottles is the first woman elected to the Harford County Council since Mary Ann Lisanti in 2010. She said that in the beginning of her campaign, she wasn't taken as seriously as she should have been.

"I don't know if that has anything to do with being a woman or not," Boyle-Tsottles, 35, said. "But now that I've won the seat, and as I build more relationships with people, they're excited for someone that's younger and a woman."

The women said it would be wrong to overemphasize that they were elected because of gender.

"I was the best candidate, and I'm going to continue to prove to everyone in Harford County that I was the best candidate, regardless," Healey said.

Healey has over 12 years of experience as a prosecutor, Karczeski implemented revenue collection systems in courts across the state and trained clerks of court financial reporting, and Boyle-Tsottles owns a real estate business and a sediment and erosion control company.

"I'm not a, per se, gender politics type of person," Karczeski said. "I don't want that to be the baseline for what I'm known for. I want to be recognized for being effective and for being innovative and getting things done."

Healey also said she did not let her gender influence her campaign.

"My goal was to show everyone that I was the best candidate, male or female," Healey said.

The women, however, recognized their inroads.

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Hallock pointed out that women make up 50% of the county, far more than their representation in county government. Looking at race, she said the current County Council has two African Americans, but the incoming council will be all white.

"It's not reflective of the county," Hallock said.

Boyle-Tsottles said she looks forward to what this year's results could mean for the future.

"I think it could open up the door for more females to run," Boyle-Tsottles said, "and I think that would be a great thing."

Healey agreed that she liked the message the victories send, especially to her three daughters and the 17 girls she coaches in soccer.

"As a female," Healey said, "you can actually do anything that you put your mind to doing."