The Harford County Council now has three candidates — Heather Cantos, Zack Frink and Nolanda Robert — to choose from to fill the District A seat vacated by the removal of Dion Guthrie.

The Harford County Democratic Central Committee chose the three candidates Wednesday night, and the County Council is scheduled to meet Dec. 30 to discuss them and possibly vote on who will represent District A for the two remaining years in Guthrie’s term.

In November, Guthrie entered a plea of “no contest” to stealing funds from a union in Baltimore County that he led for more than 50 years, triggering his removal from the council by order of the state constitution.

During a special meeting Wednesday night, the committee selected from a group of eight candidates who each had three minutes to make their case for the seat.

The central committee was required to select a minimum of three candidates, under Section 209 of the Harford County charter. Candidates must have lived as registered Democrats in District A for at least two years. The committee originally selected four candidates, with former Board of Education member Janson Robinson in the mix, but a second vote was held to cut the selection down to three after an amendment proposed by committee member Anthony Lyon. Frink and Robinson originally tied with six votes each. Robert led with nine votes, followed by Cantos with eight.

First to speak among the three selected candidates was Cantos, Council member Jacob Bennett’s administrative aide. Cantos argued that her current position has taught her much about the processes and procedures for council members. If chosen, she said she would prioritize community development and environmental stewardship.

“I am ready to hit the ground running, leveraging my experience and relationships within the County Council and the community, as well as my passion for service to make a meaningful impact from day one,” Cantos said during her three-minute speech.

A 10-minute question and answer portion followed each speech, during which candidates were asked their top priorities if elected, their positions on unions and the environment, how they would represent minority groups and how they would fundraise for their next campaign.

Cantos noted her strength as a campaigner and gave insight to her past experiences as a campaign volunteer for members of county council. She said door knocking is the most important campaign strategy but is often the least used .

Frink is an organizer for the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 27 union, and said his background as a union worker and experiences with working in public relations and news production give him leverage above other candidates. If selected, Frink said he would make it his goal to charter Edgewood, as issues such as inconsistent trash collection would be easier to solve.

“The people of Edgewood just need to be able to determine their own destiny,” Frink said, noting that if Edgewood had its own city council, he would be running for a position there instead.

Frink also highlighted his plans to campaign in 2026 that included organizing groups of door-knocking volunteers, requesting donations during town hall meetings and hosting several fundraisers.

“I’m not going to agree all the time with my Republican colleagues or even the other Democrat on the County Council,” Frink said. “When that time arises, I promise to hear out my colleagues, find common ground and work towards competence. Regardless of our political party, we all have a lot more in common that unites us than divides us.”

Last to speak of the three candidates was Robert, who ran against Guthrie in the 2022 primary election. Guthrie finished with 1,377 votes, Robert had 1,025.

During her three minutes, Robert spoke of her 30 years of experience advocating for underserved communities and creating innovative programs centered on child support. She has a background in child therapy, along with 18 years of experience as the family support services coordinator at the Cecil County Circuit Court.

Robert is the creator of the Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) program in Cecil County that aims to support victims of child abuse and neglect. She said $150,000 in child support funding was raised in the program’s first year, with more than $300,000 raised in the second year.

If elected, Robert said she would address the environmental needs in District A, also noting the increase in litter due to inconsistent trash collection, and would also prioritize improving transportation for Edgewood residents.

“I would love to see a bus from Edgewood go all the way to Bel Air and people be able to have full access on a consistent basis up and down between Route 40 and over,” Robert said. “Yes, there are buses there, but they are rare. They don’t occur as frequently like when you can hop on a bus in Baltimore City.”

Jacob Bennett, council member for District F, was present at the meeting to listen to the interviews. Bennett spoke during the meeting’s public comment portion.

“The less names you send to us, the more control you have over who we choose. If you send us eight names, you have very little control over what gets done. If you send us three names, you have a lot of control over what gets done,” Bennett said.

Bennett said the council will hold a special session Dec. 30 at 7:30 p.m. to either vote on the three candidates or facilitate discussions about their submitted materials and backgrounds. If the council fails to vote that evening, Bennett said the last opportunity to do so would be on Jan. 7, or else the decision will be left in the hands of County Executive Bob Cassilly, a Republican.

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