Bowie Mayor Tim Adams announced Tuesday that he’s throwing his hat in the race for Maryland Comptroller.

The New Orleans-born mayor made his announcement Tuesday in a YouTube video, talking about his early years attending Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically Black institution, starting his own engineering, technology, and logistics businesses based in Prince George’s County, and struggling to run for Mayor of Bowie as a paraplegic.

“People told me they couldn’t vote for me because ‘you’re in a wheelchair.’ But I ran and I won,” Adams says in the video. “I’m running for comptroller of Maryland to fight to give all families their fair share of Maryland’s unlimited opportunity.”

In January, Adams formed an exploratory committee, telling The Baltimore Sun that he would run for “financial accountability, economic justice and to really deliver a chance to the people, and have that change that we’ve been looking for.”

In his video Adams says he wants to fortify the state’s pension system, hold big corporations accountable, and make sure there is equity in the Board of Public Works’ procurement system. Adams also says he wants to sponsor legislation to endorse a policy known as “combined reporting,” which eliminates the ability of multistate corporations to hide their revenue in other states to avoid paying taxes in Maryland.

“Our existing tax policies are geared to protect international corporations and appease special interests while imposing an even greater burden on struggling families, consumers and small businesses,” Adams said in a statement.

If elected, Adams would be the first Black comptroller and the first paraplegic to hold a statewide office. At the end of the video, Adams says “Maryland, let’s roll.”

Comptroller is a significant role in Maryland. It has the authority to collect taxes, has one of three votes on the state’s board of public works, and determines the state’s budget.

Adams is up against Baltimore City Delegate Brooke Lierman, who announced her run in early December. Adams told the Sun that what separates him from Lierman and other potential candidates is that he’s not “part of the Annapolis machine.” A similar line is being used by current comptroller Peter Franchot, who is running for governor in 2022.

Adams was elected mayor of Bowie in 2019 after losing a state Senate race in 2018. He is CEO of Systems Application & Technologies, Inc., one of the largest privately held, minority-owned technology, engineering, and logistic companies in the nation. He has also served on various boards including the Bowie State University Foundation, the Prince George’s Community College Foundation, and the Maryland Chamber of Commerce.

This story was updated with quotes from Adams.