Most of the potential Democratic candidates for Baltimore County exec have filed their reports already, and so far, it looks like County Councilman Kevin Kamenetz has a pretty solid lead in the money race so far. This is not terribly surprising, given that he's not had a serious challenge in years and has an affluent district centered on Pikesville. (Perhaps presciently, he snatched up a bunch of Ruxton precincts in the redistricting after the 2000 Census.) He's got more than $725,000 on hand, well on his way to the traditional $1 million benchmark to make a serious run at county executive.

His closest competitor, Councilman Joe Bartenfelder, who rerpresents a piece of the county's East Side, has a little over half the cash on hand that Kamenetz does, about $400,000. After that, things trail off. Councilman John A. Olszewski Sr. (not to be confused with Johnny O. Jr., the delegate) has about $225,000. Sam Moxley, the councilman from Catonsville, clocks in at under $42,000, and neither Vince Gardina nor Ken Oliver, the councilmen from Perry Hall and Randallstown, respective, have filed yet.

Among the state senators who have been talked about as potential candidates, Bobby Zirkin from Owings Mills has about $105,000, and Jim Brochin from Towson has $87,000.

It's still possible that a candidate could come out of the woodwork and sweep into office (see: Smith, Jim), but realistically, he or she would need to start making the rounds pretty soon. The county is too big and too diverse to rely on a low-budget, grassroots operation, and the candidates who have been successful have generally raised enough money to go on TV. That takes time, so anybody who wants to make a serious run had better get started.

More details of the fundraising totals are below the jump.