[2][3] He is the son of the late Robert H. Kittleman and was appointed by Governor Bob Ehrlich (R) to fill his seat in the Maryland Senate.

During the 2011 General Assembly session, he was the only Republican in the Maryland State senate to speak in favor of or vote for a failed bill seeking to legalize same sex marriage.

Kittleman's declared priorities as executive included improving the delivery of human services, closing the education gap and rebuilding infrastructure throughout Howard County.

[8] Kittleman helped develop a draft proposal which suggested making zoning changes and architectural updates to the Long Reach Village Center.

[12] Kittleman brought many projects to completion that had been discussed for decades but never addressed, including a new Howard County Circuit Courthouse,[13] expansion of MD Rt 32,[14] establishment of a Community Resources Campus,[15] improvements to a pedestrian bridge over Route 29,[16] and purchase of a $23.1 million plot of land intended for a new high school.

[17] Controversial measures undertaken by his administration include reassessing the sustainable growth tier structure of the county in order to change which farmland was required to be in an agricultural preservation program.

[22] Kittleman sought and received campaign contributions from the Citizens' Election Fund, a tax-funded government program that provides money to candidates and bars them from accepting donations from businesses, PACs, or special interest groups.