Fitzwater Led Holtzinger by 10,298 in Frederick County’s First Count

Jessica Fitzwater held a 10,298-vote lead over William “Jeff” Holtzinger in Frederick County’s first unofficial count on election night. The Democratic incumbent had 22,933 votes to the Republican challenger’s 12,635, according to The Frederick News-Post. The numbers came from early voting and some mail ballots. As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, no Election Day precinct totals had been posted.

Both candidates saw reasons to wait. Fitzwater welcomed the early numbers but cautioned that voters had seen close counts before. Holtzinger said the higher early turnout compared with 2022 concerned him, though he thought the margin could shift once more votes came in.

School funding was a centerpiece of Fitzwater’s reelection campaign. A former elementary school music teacher and two-term county council member, she took office as county executive in 2022. During her term, Frederick County fully funded the school board’s fiscal 2027 budget request, a first under charter government, the newspaper reported.

Holtzinger, a former Frederick mayor who helped draft the county charter, campaigned on lower property taxes, slower development and protection of rural land. He opposed the industrial rezoning along Jefferson Pike and criticized the 2,615-acre data center overlay zone near Adamstown.

The two candidates took different paths to a similar position on the zone’s size. Fitzwater’s administration supported its creation in December; during the campaign she said she would begin the process of shrinking it. Holtzinger said he would support the council in reducing it.