Ken Ulman, chairman of the Maryland Democratic Party, is stepping down and switching to a role boosting Gov. Wes Moore’s “economic growth agenda.”

Ulman, a former Howard County executive, is an economic development strategist and president of the Margrave Strategies consulting firm. He was an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor in 2014.

Ulman will leave his role June 13, with Vice Chair Charlene Dukes serving as acting chair until the election June 21.

Ulman was Moore’s handpicked choice to lead the party and has served in that role since November 2023. Moore said Ulman’s leadership “was critical to maintaining Democratic power in the state.”

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During Ulman’s tenure, Democrats hit most of their goals in the 2024 election, electing U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks over Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan, maintaining seven of eight U.S. House seats and defeating several Moms for Liberty-backed school board candidates.

Moore is recommending Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman to be the next party chair.

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Wes Moore, then a candidate for governor, and Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman, who was running for reelection, campaign at the Odenton MARC station in 2022. (Jessica Gallagher/Jessica Gallagher)

“With an all out assault on our state and our values underway from Washington DC, I know Steuart Pittman will put his experience and moral clarity to work to defend our state, fight back against the Trump administration, and ensure Democrats win elections,” Moore said in a written statement released by the Maryland Democratic Party.

Pittman, a former community organizer who owns a farm in Davidsonville, was elected county executive in 2018, upsetting the incumbent Republican executive, Steve Schuh. He was reelected in 2022 and was an early supporter of Moore’s in the crowded Democratic gubernatorial primary that year.