Baltimore County councilman Joseph Bartenfelder, who lost the race for the Democratic nomination for county executive last month, has apparently invited the Republican nominee to attend a gathering for his supporters on Sunday in Kingsville.

Kenneth C. Holt, who ran unopposed for the GOP nomination, said Bartenfelder asked him about a week ago to attend the late afternoon event at the fire station in Kingsville, but would not say why he wanted him to be there or whether he would endorse him in his general election contest with Bartenfelder's former opponent, councilman Kevin Kamenetz of Owings Mills.

"He asked me to be there, and I will be there," said Holt, 59, of Kingsville, a former member of the Maryland House of Delegates. "He's given no indication what he's going to say to me or to the audience."

Bartenfelder could not be reached for comment, but he said last week that it was "pretty unlikely" that he would endorse Kamenetz. Bartenfelder said he was unhappy with Kamenetz's campaign advertisements, which he considered misleading about his record.

Holt said he and Bartenfelder struck up a friendship while attending the candidates' forums, and have been talking regularly since the primary. He said he's found his fellow east-sider Bartenfelder to be an "excellent counselor" on issues and conducting his campaign.

"He's a farmer, I'm a farmer," said Holt, who raises beef cattle on 120-acres, and is now on leave from his position as a senior vice president at Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. "We have many similarities. We're both conservative. There's just a natural affinity between us."

-Arthur Hirsch