Tag Archives: Election 2014

The Student Debt Crisis

Posted on by
4

itsbeen2years-3

This week’s email brings a reminder from Maggie Thompson at the organization Higher Ed Not Debt about an issue that remains under the radar for much of the population:

“This week we hit a milestone—but it’s not a good one. It’s been two years since the amount of student debt held in this country hit $1 trillion dollars. Americans hold more student debt than credit card debt and auto loans combined.”  — Maggie Thompson

Everyone knows about credit card debt and mortgage issues, but the significance of student debt is still emerging. Higher education student debt should be at the top of the list of issues addressed by Democratic candidates in this year’s elections. Recent graduates (and also students who studied for several years but didn’t graduate) are well aware of the problem, and they could use some help.

The burden of student debt might not be so bad, if more and better jobs were available for young adults. But the fact is, graduates face a stagnant job market and declining wages. How do you pay off student debt and start a family on Walmart wages?

Higher Ed Not Debt is organizing events across the country to put the spotlight on student debt. For more information see the Higher Ed Not Debt website.

— John Hayden

 

Retail Politics In Montgomery County Before 2014 Democratic Primary

Posted on by
Reply
DOUG DUNCAN MEETING WITH GREEN DEMOCRATS. (Photo Tweeted by Duncan after the meeting.)

DOUG DUNCAN MEETING WITH GREEN DEMOCRATS, photo tweeted by Duncan after the meeting.

Only 11 weeks until the June primary election, and here’s a leading candidate for county executive, in a county of one million people, meeting with fewer than two dozen voters.

Fifteen Montgomery County voters, to be exact, were on hand Thursday night to talk issues with Doug Duncan, former and possibly future county executive. It gives you some sense of the involvement of the voters — or the disengagement of  voters — in a local election in a nonpresidential election year. The venue, in this case. was a meeting of Montgomery County Green Democrats at a restaurant on Rockville Pike. Also on hand was one other candidate, Hrant Jamgochian, running for House of Delegates in District 16. All involved last night — both candidates and voters — are Democrats, far as I know.

We’re in the retail phase of this primary election season of 2014. Come one, come all, come anyone who’s interested. No need to worry about being trampled by the masses. You — yes, you — can take the measure of the candidates, if you wish, up close and personal. Got questions? Ask away. The politicians will answer, as best they can. Gatherings like this will be taking place all over Montgomery County, seven nights a week, right up until election day. Plus innumerable breakfast and lunch meetings as well. The point is, no voter can claim to lack for an  opportunity to see and talk with candidates before making a decision and casting a ballot.

DOUG DUNCAN

DOUG DUNCAN

It would be unfair, obviously, to evaluate any one candidate without also considering all the candidates running for the same office. Suffice it to say that Duncan seemed in fine fiddle Thursday night. The former Rockville mayor and former county executive obviously knows Montgomery County like the back of his hand. He handles all questions smoothly. The only question that ruffled his feathers even a little was a query about a proposal to allow suburban residents to keep chickens in their backyards. The issue has already been decided in the negative, and I doubt it will be revisited in the near future. For the record, Duncan indicated he has nothing against poultry, but he doesn’t think chickens — and especially not roosters — are a good idea in residential neighborhoods.

The other candidates running for county executive are Democrats Ike Leggett, the current executive, and Councilman Phil Andrews; and Republican Jim Shalleck.

Organizations of all kinds will sponsor forums to which they’ll invite all four executive candidates, so you can compare them side-by-side. Two forums I know of coming up before the end of the month are:

  • St. Jude Catholic Church, 12701 Veirs Mill Road, Rockville, at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 23.
  • Temple Beth Ami, 14330 Travilah Rd, Rockville, at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 30.
HRANT JAMGOCHIAN

HRANT JAMGOCHIAN  —  Campaign slogan: “Hard to pronounce. Easy to support!”

The lone delegate candidate was invited to attend by Montgomery Green Democrats leader Joan Jacobs. He is Hrant Jamgochian, who also ran in the District 16 primary in 2010. In a Democratic field of 13 that year, Jamgochian finished fifth, with 2,964 votes. This year, only 11 Democrats are contending for the three delegate seats. One of the delegate seats is open, since Del. Susan Lee is running for the District 16 State Senate seat.

Again, it’s unfair to judge one candidate without considering all 11. But I think it’s fair to say that Jamgochian is a candidate with an unusual depth of experience and knowledge. He appears to have a very good shot at winning the open delegate seat in District 16 this year.

Doug Duncan’s website is DougDuncan.com

Hrant Jamgochian’s website is www.gojamgo.org

(Jacobs indicated that the Green Democrats hope to endorse candidates within a few weeks.)

— John Hayden

 

 

Minimum Wage Increase Passes In Maryland, O’Malley Will Sign It

Posted on by
Reply

Tuesday morning, Gov. Martin O’Malley sent out an email recap of the 2014 General Assembly, highlighting bills that he will enthusiastically sign into law. He didn’t mention the bill to decriminalize possession of small amounts of marijuana, but I believe he will most likely sign that one too.  — John

middle class

Below is the text of O’Malley’s email message. I’ve put some of the key words in bold text:

Yesterday afternoon, the State House voted to raise Maryland’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

This effort — which has now passed both chambers — is the culmination of a lot of hard hard work to forge consensus and bring people together to give hundreds of thousands of our friends, neighbors, and family members a well-deserved raise.

I will sign it enthusiastically — because no one who works full time should have to raise their family in poverty.

Yesterday also marked the conclusion of Maryland’s 2014 legislative session. Strengthening and growing our middle class was the North Star of our work — both in this session and for the past seven and a half years — and I’m pleased to report that we took meaningful action this year to move our State forward:

– We passed a bill to expand Pre-Kindergarten for 1,600 children in low-income families because investments in early childhood education make a huge difference throughout a person’s life.

– I’ll sign a comprehensive package to strengthen protections for victims of domestic violence, furthering our work to keep families safe. Since 2007, we’ve driven down the rate of female and juvenile homicide in Maryland, and this year’s effort builds on that work.

– Maryland’s Wildlands are critical to preserving and protecting the last untouched landscapes and waterways of our great State. As Marylanders, we have a duty to ensure that these open spaces can be enjoyed by future generations and that is why we passed this measure to expand our State’s Wildlands by 50%.

– We passed a responsible budget that invests in job creation and innovation, expands opportunity, strengthens our State’s middle class and puts us on a path to eliminate our inherited structural deficit by 2017. And we did it without raising any taxes or fees.

These accomplishments did not happen by chance — they happened by choice.

Hope drives belief. Belief drives action. And action achieves results. We achieved together this legislative session, and I thank you for your help moving Maryland forward.

All the best,

Martin O’Malley
Governor, Maryland

A quick graphic look at the Maryland budget dollar.

A quick graphic look at the Maryland budget dollar.

Real Estate Development Always At Issue in Montgomery County Elections

Posted on by
1

UPDATE: For more on economic development and growth in Montgomery County, past and future, please see my post, “Contemplating Life Inside An Economic Engine,” at the TheSeventhState political blog,  http://www.theseventhstate.com

_______________________

Most Americans outside the beltway* are justified in thinking that the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area is a one-company town, and that company is the U.S. government with its myriad contractors.

But here in Montgomery County, MD, the industry with political clout, decade after decade, is real estate development. It’s always a lucrative proposition. Start with some relatively inexpensive farmland, rough-in a few roads and water and sewer, build housing, and sell the added value for a tidy profit. Styles change — ticky-tacky ranchers, split-levels, townhouses, McMansions, luxury apartments or condos — but the concept remains the same.

An example of the modern residential construction style, the four-story rectangle with pitched roof. It allows somewhat denser development than the three-story garden apartments of the 20th century.

An example of the modern residential construction style, the four-story rectangle with pitched roof. It allows somewhat denser development than the three-story garden apartments of the 20th century. This one is in Germantown.

Development has been a political issue in every local election for as long as I can remember. The slogans are short and sweet: No Growth, Slow Growth, Managed Growth, Smart Growth.

Sometimes the focus appears to be on related construction, such as adequate schools, highways, pubic transit, even parks and open space.**  The undercurrent is always development. Some recent twists have been fill-in development and redevelopment.

Election 2014 will be more of the same. If anything, the focus on development has been reinvigorated by the recent debate regarding Ten Mile Creek and Clarksburg. Bill Turque of The Washington Post has a concise story today highlighting the influence of developers on Montgomery County local politics. It’s a little bit “inside baseball,” but it might be a good introduction for voters new to the area.

The proximate subject is the Democratic primary contest for the District 1 County Council seat between Roger Berliner and Dutchy Trachtenberg.  The tantalizing story is a political fund-raiser associated with the development community calling the Sierra Club “the most vicious anti-development, anti-growth organization in the country.” For the record, the Sierra Club endorsed Berliner over Trachtenberg.

The “most vicious anti-development” trash talk is only a passing tempest in a long campaign season. But for any new MoCo voter, the story pulls back the curtain on the role of political contributions by real estate development interests. Montgomery county is home to a million people. Candidates for County Executive and the nine County Council seats face about a million pounds of pressure from all sorts of interests, with developers supplying much of the tonnage. Developer interests, as might be expected, are usually at odds with environmental concerns.

A secondary insight from the story is the role of candidate endorsements by influential interest groups such as the Sierra Club. Every imaginable interest group throughout the state is pestering candidates with questionnaires, with endorsements often forthcoming for the right answers. However, endorsements are sometimes often made in arbitrary fashion behind closed doors. In many cases, endorsements go almost automatically to incumbents, rather than challengers.

— John Hayden

* Maybe it’s time to retire “inside the beltway” and replace it with “inside the InterCounty Connector.”

** In the early days of suburbia, country club golf courses were often cited as “open space.”

Any thoughts on the wild world of nearly unlimited campaign money?

St. Patrick’s Day Parades Launch 2014 Election Season In Maryland

Posted on by
1

Democrats have a good chance to gain seats on the Eastern Shore 

Question: Why do Democrats dominate Maryland elections?

Answer: Democrats have superior candidates.

Democrat Judy Davis (second from right) and supporters at St. Patrick's Day Parade in Ocean City. (John Hayden photo)

Democrat Judy Davis (second from right) and supporters at St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ocean City. (John Hayden photo)

St. Patrick’s Day parades mark the start of election year in Maryland — more so than ever this year — because primaries have been moved up to June. Three months from St. Pat’s Day to Election Day. Nearly every Maryland city and town had a parade this weekend, and nearly every serious candidate — both Democrats and Republicans — was marching (or sometimes riding in a convertible.) Let the record show that Saturday was a perfect, sunny day for a parade in Ocean City.

Democrats hold a solid majority in Maryland’s General Assembly. Republicans, as always, hope to improve their minority position. They might pick up a seat or two, but that’s about the limit. Democrats have better candidates nearly everywhere in Maryland.

A case in point is District 38, located in the far southeastern corner of the state, the Lower Eastern Shore (Worcester County, Somerset County, and part of Wicomico County). District 38 will likely have some of the closest and most hard-fought elections in Maryland this year. Let me explain.

Many people presume that the Lower Eastern Shore leans Republican, either slightly or severely. History and election results indicate otherwise.

Four years ago, Democrats gained a Senate seat on the Lower Shore when Jim Mathias, former mayor of Ocean City, defeated a Republican businessman. In 2014, Democrats have every reason to expect to hold the Senate seat AND pick up one or even two seats in the House of Delegates. But it’s hardly a foregone conclusion.

Neither party will have competitive legislative primaries in District 38. All the action — and it could be hot– will be in the November General Election. Both sides are already hard at work.

Democrat Judy Davis meeting the crowd at St. Patrick's Day Parade in Ocean City. (John Hayden photo)

Democrat Judy Davis meeting the crowd at St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Ocean City. (John Hayden photo)

Did we mention superior Democratic candidates?

Sen. Jim Mathias has never lost an election. He’s been elected once to the House of Delegates and once to the State Senate. Before that, he was elected councilman and mayor repeatedly in Ocean City. Mathias faces a serious challenge from one-term Republican Del. Mike McDermott. It will be a hard-fought contest, but McDermott simply doesn’t match up well against Mathias in terms of experience, gravitas, or fund-raising ability. Mathias won a squeaker by 640 votes in 2010, and only after a recount. The 2014 results will likely be close, but not that close. I see Mathias winning by 3,000 to 5,000 votes. www.jimmathias.com

Superior candidates for Delegate

After the 2010 Census, District 38 was divided into three single-member districts for House of Delegates. Republicans have two of the three delegates now, but they might be in trouble. In reverse order:

Judy Davis chatting with voters before the parade.

Judy Davis chatting with voters before the parade.

District 38C — Democrat Judy Davis (her brand:  Teacher, Mother, Volunteer) should cruise to victory against Democrat Mike Hindi in the June primary. Davis will probably be outspent in the General Election by her Republican opponent, Mary Beth Carozza, who has not lived on the Eastern Shore since she graduated from high school. District 38C includes northern Worcester County (Ocean City, Ocean Pines, West Ocean City, Bishopville), and the rural northeastern part of Wicomico County. www.judydavisforshore.com

Ms. Carozza returned to the Shore last year specifically to run for the open delegate seat. Republican operatives from Washington, D.C. where Carozza had a career in Republican politics, are funding her campaign big time. But it will be hard to buy an election in this small-town, one-delegate district, where people know each other. Judy Davis has lived and taught school here for decades. Davis is a graduate of the Democratic Emerge Program, which prepares promising community leaders like Judy to run for public office. I think Democrats, seeing the opportunity to pick up a seat, will give her strong support.

District 38B — Del. Norm Conway, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, has no primary opposition and is nearly a lock for re-election in November against a Republican named Carl Anderton Jr.  Del. Conway is the only delegate from the entire Eastern Shore with any clout in Annapolis. His support in his Salisbury district is nearly unshakable. (See what we mean by superior Democratic candidates?)

District 38A — May lean by a hair to the Democrats. 38A includes all of Somerset County and the southern half of Worcester County, including Pocomoke City, Snow Hill and Berlin. In 2012, President Barack Obama won Somerset County by a handful of votes. The Democratic candidate, Percy J. Purnell Jr. is a definite threat to unseat one-term Republican Del. Charles James Otto. Otto is quite popular in the Somerset County part of District 38A. I give Otto a slight advantage in a close race in Somerset. But the election will be won or lost in the Worcester County part of the district. The outcome will depend on which party can turn out its voters in this sprawling rural subdistrict.

To recap: District 38 is currently represented by two Democrats and two Republicans. The two Democrats, Sen. Jim Mathias and Del. Norm Conway are likely winners in 2014. The other two delegate seats will be close races. I give the edge to Democrat Judy Davis in 38C and Republican Charles Otto in 38A, with Democrat Percy J. Purnell Jr. making a strong challenge and possibly edging Otto. A Democratic sweep in this district would be a painful loss for the minority Republicans.

— John Hayden

Montgomery County Council Candidates List (With Websites And Map)

Posted on by
Reply

Council office bldgCounty Council Candidates, 2014

Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by last name and party. They’re color-coded, blue for Democrats, red for Republicans, and green for Green Party.

All nine County Council seats are up for election for four-year terms in 2014. In Montgomery County we have 20 Democratic candidates, four Republicans, and one Green Party candidate.

The 2014 Primary Election is June 24. Democrats will have a choice of Democratic candidates for County Council in the at-large race and in four of the five districts. Not enough Republican candidates filed to give Republicans  a contested primary in the at-large race or any of the district races.

At-Large Candidates, Democrats (Vote for four)

At-Large Candidates, Republican (Vote for four)

  • ROBERT DYER — www.robertdyer.net — Republican 
  • SHELLY SKOLNICK — no website listed — Republican

At-large Candidates, Green (Vote for four)

Montgomery County Council districts map.

Montgomery County Council districts map.

Council District 1 (Vote for one)

Council District 2 (Vote for one)

Council District 3 (Vote for one)

Council District 4 (Vote for one)

Council District 5 (Vote for one)

Notes:

Information source: Maryland State Board of Elections. Some candidate websites may not be operational. Some candidates may have websites that are not listed with the Board of Elections.

Registered voters in Montgomery County can vote for four at-large council candidates, and one candidate to represent the district you live in.

Please report any omissions, misspellings or other errors to BJohnHayden@icloud.com.

(A few Republican candidates were nominated AFTER the candidate filing deadline by the Republican Central Committee, to avoid the embarrassment of having no Republican candidate at all for some seats. I’ll update the list eventually to include the Republican candidates who had to be pushed forward by the Central Committee, in order to provide an updated list of both Democratic and Republican nominees for the General Election.) 

Which County Council district are you in?

Easy to find out, even if you’re not a registered voter. Go to this page and enter your street address and zip code. You’ll get the location of your polling place, and your County Council district number, State Legislative district number, and Congressional district number.

For a more detailed look at the County Council district maps, click here.

Want to register to vote?

It’s easy. Click here to go to the Maryland online registration site.  Deadline for voter registration before the Maryland Primary Election is June 3. Registered Democrats can vote in the Democratic primary and registered Republicans can vote in the Republican primary. It’s that simple and obvious.

Other registered voters, such as independents and members of the Green Party or Libertarian Party, are not eligible to vote in the Democratic or Republican primaries. (Membership has its privileges and responsibilities. If you want the privilege of voting in a primary, you have the responsibility to register with that party.)  All registered voters can vote in the general election in November.

— Information Compiled by John Hayden

Robin Ficker vs. Brian Feldman in Montgomery District 15

Posted on by
Reply
Robin Ficker

Robin Ficker

Sen. Brian Feldman

Sen. Brian Feldman

Republican Robin Ficker filed Friday, Feb. 21, to run for State Senate in Montgomery County District 15, setting up a General Election contest with recently appointed Democratic Sen. Brian Feldman. And Ficker’s son, Flynn Ficker, filed the same day to run for House of Delegates.

District 15 now has a full slate of Democrats and a full slate of Republicans for the district’s State Senate seat and three House of Delegates seats. It may be the only one of Montgomery’s eight General Assembly districts to have full inter-party competition in November. Both Ficker and Feldman will cakewalk to their respective party’s nominations for Senate without a contested primary in June, unless additional candidates file before the Tuesday, Feb. 25, 9 p.m. deadline.

Robin Ficker, 70, is a well-known name with an unusual history in Montgomery County politics. He’s been a perennial candidate and he’s been active in bringing controversial issues directly to county voters via initiative questions on the ballot. He once served a single term in the House of Delegates. Running for Senate on a slate with his son running for delegate is an example of Robin Ficker’s knack for publicity.

District 15 is Montgomery’s largest district by geography, stretching from Cabin John Regional Park and Democracy Boulevard in the south, covering all the affluent neighborhoods west of Rockville and Gaithersburg to the Potomac River, and including vast rural acreage in the northwest part of MoCo, north to the Frederick County line. It’s a majority Democratic district, but with more Republican and independent-minded voters, and more high-income voters, than other parts of Montgomery County. It’s the one legislative district in the county that could be competitive in a General Election when Republicans run a full slate with funding to back it up.

In 2010, Republicans also fielded a full slate in District 15, with one open delegate seat at stake. Democrats won all the seats, with Sen. Rob Garagiola beating his Republican opponent by a nearly 2-1 margin. The Democratic delegates did not run quite as strongly. The third-place Democratic delegate candidate in 2010 polled more than 17,000 votes to 13,000 for the fourth-place Republican.

Sen. Garagiola had more name recognition in 2010, and higher standing in Annapolis, than Sen. Feldman has now, and Republicans didn’t have anyone with the ability to generate attention like Robin Ficker. It will be interesting to see if he has mellowed with age.

There are no open seats in the district in 2014. The Democrats are running a full slate of  “incumbents,” but as a group, they are not long-entrenched. Nonetheless, the Democrats are well-known, well-organized, and professional. By comparison, the Republican group looks like lightweights with novelty appeal.

Brian Feldman, 53, was selected from a number of other names by the MoCo Democratic Central Committee and appointed to the Senate in Sept. 2013. However, he had been elected three times previously to represent District 15 in the House of Delegates, in 2002, 2006, and 2010. He was promoted from House to Senate to fill the seat of Sen. Rob Garagiola. The Democratic Central Committee was aware of the upcoming 2014 election, and no doubt selected Feldman as the candidate best able to hold the Senate seat in case of Republican opposition.

Following Feldman’s move to Senate, the Democratic Central Committee selected David Fraser-Hidalgo to fill Feldman’s seat in the House of Delegates in October 2013. Fraser-Hidalgo had not previously held public office, but had been active for more than a decade in county civic affairs and the business community.

The other two House of Delegates incumbents in District 15 are Democrats Kathleen Dumais, an attorney, first elected to the House in 2002; and Aruna Miller, an engineer, elected in 2010 and presently completing her first term. The fourth Democratic candidate for delegate, forcing a Democratic primary, is Bennett Rushkoff.

The three Republican candidates for delegate are Ed Edmundson, Flynn Ficker, and Christine Thron. Democrat Ali Saquib, a Democrat and former delegate, had filed to run but has withdrawn his candidacy.

Feldman had nearly $113,000 in his campaign account as of the latest report in January. Robin Ficker filed an affidavit that he’s raised and spent less than $1,000. It’s a long time from February to November. Who knows how much or how little financial support this Republican slate will attract?

Advantage, Democrats, of course. But the Democratic Party will take nothing for granted in District 15. The sixth year of President Obama’s presidency will be a dangerous time for Democrats in District 15.  Robin Ficker adds a wild-card element to the contest.

Sen. Feldman’s web site is BrianJFeldman.com, and Ficker and son have a joint site, Fickersfor15.com

— John Hayden

Too Many Lawyers In Politics, Not Enough Ordinary Folks

Posted on by
Reply

David Lublin calls Montgomery County’s District 16 a “chock full o’lawyers” district, in his blog post, “D16 Not So Competitive After All.”  (District 16 borders the D.C. line from Bethesda to the Potomac River.)

How true! Attorneys are over-represented in politics throughout America, and even more so in Montgomery County.

Montgomery County also has the odd distinction of electing more political officials with Capitol Hill staff experience on their resumes than anyplace else on Earth. In addition, we have “local officials” here with experience in some of the many union national headquarters located in D.C., and others with backgrounds in the many business special-interest groups headquartered here.

Most of these folks have one foot rooted in their home town far away, and one foot rooted in national politics in D.C. Many have law degrees. Naturally. By coincidence, they happen to reside and vote in Montgomery County. They make local politics in Montgomery County unique. Sometimes they overwhelm MoCo politics and make it crazy.

More on this odd mix of pols at a later date.

— John Hayden

If you’d like to see a superb blog about Maryland politics, which David Lublin has developed in just a few weeks, check out theseventhstate.com.

Candidates Needed To Save Democracy In America, Apply Now

Posted on by
2

Every state in America will hold congressional elections in 2014, and most will also have gubernatorial, legislative and local elections. A deadline for candidates is approaching in all the states, just as it is where I live, in Maryland. But you never hear about it.

Why beat the drum for candidates? Two reasons. First, it’s important. Americans have gotten in the habit of holding our politicians in extreme low regard. The reputation of government and politics is tarnished by corruption and inefficiency. The understandable reaction is disappointment and apathy. Some citizens at the extremes view government with fear and loathing.

The way we choose our leaders is called democracy, and democracy is withering away while we fiddle. What do you need for a functioning democracy? Two things. Voters, obviously. And candidates. What good are voters without candidates? And you must have more than one candidate. When you have one candidate or one party, that’s not democracy. Isn’t it obvious that we need more and better candidates?

Conspiracy Of Silence

I said two reasons, didn’t I? The second reason I’m talking about candidacy on this blog is, you never hear about it anyplace else, do you?

You’ll see reminders about registering to vote at your library or the MVA. You’ll probably have opportunities to register to vote at your house of worship and your high school.

But how often to you see anything about the process of becoming a candidate, or the filing deadline? Not in the mainstream media.

It’s almost a conspiracy of silence by the media.

Political organizations are worse. Most individual politicians hate competition. It’s so easy to skate by if you’re the only candidate. But my, how it complicates things when you have an opponent, or two or three opponents!

Political leaders, party organizations, and even special-interest groups often actively discourage candidates. If the party or the special interest has a malleable office holder, they don’t want to rock the boat. They want to see their guy or gal cruise to reelection, time after time.

Not in Montgomery County, the land of “good government?” Please don’t be naive. The late Sen. Margaret Schweinhaut once recalled that in the bad old days (read 1940s and 1950s) anyone wanting to run for office in Montgomery County had to receive permission from the Lee organization. (Schweinhaut served in the House of Delegates, 1955-1961, and in the State Senate, 1961-1990.)

In modern times, it’s more likely for a candidate to need the equivalent of permission from fund-raisers and special-interest groups. Also in modern days, it’s not uncommon for an ambitious member of the House of Delegates or School Board to be counseled (to put it gently) by party elders to wait until it’s their time before running for a higher office.

Don’t Be Normal

It never occurs to most normal, ordinary people, that they could hold public office, be a public servant. (That’s why normal people are normal.) OK, you’ll never be president, or even governor. But you’d be surprised how lowly and ordinary a state legislator or county council member can be.

I think many ordinary citizens would be shocked to know that there are no special requirements to run for the General Assembly. If you’re a U.S. citizen and 21 years of age,* you qualify. That’s it. No experience required. You don’t have to be a college graduate. It helps to have a thick skin and tolerance for rejection.

I can hear readers thinking: “If it’s so important to have more candidates, why doesn’t the SOB do it himself?”

Been there. Done that. Twice.

And in unfriendly red Republican territory, in other parts of Maryland. Now that I’ve retired and consolidated back here in my home county, it’s ironic that I can’t participate as a candidate. Too bad. I might at least get a few relatives and people I went to school with to vote for me.

Truth is, there are good reasons why I can’t run for office this year. I wish I could, but I can’t. All I can do is write about it.

But YOU might be a person who could run. Win or lose, you’d be performing a service for Democracy. The deadline in Maryland is Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014. Find out more at the Maryland Board of Elections.

— John Hayden

(*Slightly higher age requirements for some higher offices.)

Most Montgomery County Districts Still Need Political Candidates

Posted on by
1
Maryland State flag

John Hayden photo

The Feb. 25 deadline for candidates to file to run in Maryland’s 2014 state and county elections is near, and the candidate list in Montgomery County is looking pretty thin.

As of Feb. 17, only two of Montgomery County’s eight State Senate seats will be contested. The other six Senate candidates in MoCo will get a free ride.

The two districts with contested Democratic primaries for Senate, as of Feb. 17 are:

  • District 17 (Gaithersburg and Rockville) Del. Luiz Simmons vs. former Del. Cheryl Kagan.
  • District 18 (Silver Spring, Kensington, Wheaton, Chevy Chase, Garrett Park) Sen. Richard Madaleno vs. Dana Beyer.

Six of MoCo’s Senate candidates will run unopposed in the Democratic Primary. Even worse, it looks like all eight Democratic candidates after the primary will be able to take the summer and fall off. Not a single Republican has filed to run for Senate in MoCo. It’s not as if we have no Republicans living in MoCo, but the Republican Party has few candidates who wish to sign up to be sacrificial lambs. The Republican Central Committee may yet twist some arms to field a few more candidates.

Few Candidates Means No Choice For Voters

The lack of opponents in both primary and general elections for State Senate is not unusual anywhere in Maryland, but it’s not good for the candidates, voters, or democracy. Competition would make all the candidates sharper and more forthcoming on the issues. Given a selection of candidates, rather than just one, voters might over time improve the overall quality of the General Assembly.

The two main reasons for the dearth of Senate candidates: gerrymandering and money. Most of Maryland’s legislative districts are drawn so that one or the other party has a clear edge. It takes a brave candidate to run against heavy odds. Did we say money? It can take $250,000 to $1 million to fund a quality campaign in a contested Senate race in Maryland, whether it’s a primary or a general. Raising that amount of money is daunting for anybody, and nearly impossible for any new or unknown candidate. Of course for incumbents who run unopposed, campaign expenses are not much of a problem.

You don’t need quite so much money to run for House of Delegates, so we sometimes have the luxury of choosing from as many as eight or 10 primary candidates for three delegate seats in a district. In the few districts where both Democrats and Republicans can expect some reasonable prospect of winning, the general election often has three Democrats and three Republicans facing off.

Delegate Races Generate More Interest

As it stands now, there’s plenty of room in Montgomery County for additional delegate candidates in some districts.

The two districts with contested Democratic primaries for Senate also have good competition for the delegate seats. District 17 has six Democrats and one Republican candidates for delegate. District 18 has seven Democrats but no Republicans.

Districts 14 and 15 have a minimum level of competition, four Democrats and one Republican in each district. District 16 has five Democrats and one Republican running. District 20 has the largest field, nine Democrats and one Green candidate. No Republicans.

Districts 19 and District 39 are candidate poor. YOU, reading this at home right now, could provide a public service by running for delegate. District 19,  overwhelmingly Democratic, has only four Democrats running in the delegate primary so far, and none of them are incumbents. Think of it. Three wide open seats and no incumbents! It’s a rare opportunity for newcomers. But I can understand why no Republicans want to run in 19. (Two incumbent delegates have not filed.)

District 39 is the district most in need of candidates. Only three incumbent Democrats running unopposed for delegate, and one Republican. District 39 is north and east of Gaithersburg, that is, Germantown and Montgomery Village.

District 39 doesn’t have the long history of Democratic activism that you find in the southern part of MoCo, Districts 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Unlike Gaithersburg, Rockville, Chevy Chase and Takoma Park, Germantown has no municipal government and is the most recently developed part of the county. With no local officials and few candidates for legislature, there’s not much reason for the newer residents in Germantown to become active in community or politics.

MoCo County Council

I’ve saved the worst news for last. Put your fingers on the wrist of the County Council race, and you can hardly feel a pulse. As of Feb. 17, we have only one Democratic candidate filed to run in each of the county’s five council districts. Not an indication of a healthy democracy. We’re still waiting for at least one more shoe to drop in Council District 3. No Republicans in any of the five districts.

For the four at-large County Council seats, we have exactly three Democratic candidates. They are incumbents Nancy Floreen and George Levanthal, and newcomer Vivian Malloy. Also, there’s one Republican and one Green bidding for the at-large seats. We can certainly expect at least two or three more Democrats for the at-large seats. Several incumbents have yet to file.

Also Doug Duncan has still not filed officially to run for MoCo County Executive.

For information about how to become a candidate (it’s cheap and easy to sign up, costly and difficult to win) look at the Maryland Election Board web site. You can also find information on voter registration and results of previous elections.

To see a map of Montgomery County legislative districts click here: Montgomery_County dist map

— John Hayden