Howard County executive candidate Vanessa Atterbeary is stepping down from her position in the Maryland House of Delegates to devote more attention to her campaign.

Atterbeary’s resignation takes effect Jan. 14, at the start of the next regular Maryland General Assembly session. She will participate in a special session next week, when delegates will elect a new House speaker.

Atterbeary, a Democrat first elected to the House in 2014, said the decision to resign was difficult.

As chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Atterbeary has played an important role in shaping issues ranging from education to tax policy to gambling. She has also pushed legislation on gun control.

Atterbeary said she considered the challenge of running a county executive campaign while commuting from Howard County to Annapolis for the three-month legislative session.

“I decided to be solely focused on the race,” she said.

She added: “This was a very hard decision. There were tears involved, because I am so passionate about the work.”

Del. Jheanelle Wilkins, who serves as vice-chair of Atterbeary’s committee and leads the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, praised her colleague’s work.

“Chairwoman Atterbeary has been a dedicated and driven leader of our committee and a strong advocate for our students and families,” Wilkins, a Montgomery County Democrat, said in a statement. “I am grateful for her service and wish her well as she begins her next chapter.”

Atterbeary’s resignation comes as the House of Delegates leadership structure could be reorganized under Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk, who is the front-runner to be elected House speaker during Tuesday’s special session. The House has been without a top leader since Del. Adrienne A. Jones resigned from the speaker’s post last week.

Atterbeary said she had not spoken with Peña-Melnyk in recent days.

The Howard County executive’s race also saw a shake-up when Del. Jessica Feldmark withdrew and decided to run for reelection to the House of Delegates instead.

Feldmark, a Democrat, said she has been diagnosed with cancer, and while her prognosis is good, she didn’t feel that she could campaign for county executive any more.

The other Democrats in the race are council member Deb Jung and council member Liz Walsh.

No Republicans have filed to run in the race to succeed Democratic County Executive Calvin Ball, who is term-limited.

Atterbeary expressed confidence in her chances to win.

“I think that quite frankly this is my race to lose at this point,” she said.