Gabe Albornoz, Evan Glass, Will Jawando and Andrew Friedson will be the four new members of the Montgomery County Council starting next month.
Albornoz, Glass, Jawando and two-term incumbent Hans Riemer, all Democrats, received 18.8 percent, 19.2 percent, 18.6 percent and 18.2 percent, respectively, of the vote in the at-large council race in Tuesday’s general election (the highest four vote-getters win the four seats) with all but two precincts reporting. Republican candidates Robert Dyer, Chris P. Fiotes Jr., Penny Musser and Shelly Skolnick finished in the next four spots. Coming in last was Green Party candidate Tim Willard with 2.1 percent.
Albornoz, Glass and Jawando will occupy the three at-large council seats that are being vacated by council members Nancy Floreen, Marc Elrich and George Leventhal, who must leave due to term limits. Elrich was elected Tuesday night as the next Montgomery County executive.
Albornoz has been the director of the Montgomery County Department of Recreation for 11 years and had never previously run for public office. Glass spent 12 years as a journalist at CNN before becoming executive director of the nonprofit Gandhi Brigade Youth Media. He previously ran unsuccessfully for the District 5 council seat in 2014. Glass will be the first openly gay member of the County council. Jawando served in two roles during President Barack Obama’s administration before entering the private sector as an attorney. He previously ran unsuccessfully for a District 20 state delegate seat in 2014 and the 8th Congressional District seat in 2016. Riemer was first elected to the council in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. This will be his final term. The four at-large Democrats finished as the highest vote-getters in a crowded field of 33 candidates during the June 26 primary.
Friedson (D) will succeed three-term District 1 council member Roger Berliner, who must also vacate his council seat due to term limits. Friedson defeated Republican Richard Banach, a 20-year-old-college student, 77 percent to 23 percent with all precincts reporting. Friedson previously worked in the state comptroller’s office and currently chairs the Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth & Families. He won the primary by finishing with the most votes among eight candidates.
In what was expected to be the most competitive of Tuesday’s council races, incumbent District 2 council member Craig Rice (D) defeated Republican Ed Amatetti 70.6 percent to 29.3 percent with all but one precinct reporting. Rice was first elected to the council in 2010 and re-elected in 2014. This will be his final term.
District 3 council member Sidney Katz (D) was elected to his second term on the council, having run unopposed. Katz has been involved in county politics for 40 years, which includes a 16-year stint as mayor of Gaithersburg from 1998 to 2014. He was elected to the council that fall.
Also running unopposed was District 4 council member Nancy Navarro, who was elected to her third and final full term Tuesday night. Navarro first won a special election in 2009 before being re-elected in 2010 and 2014. Navarro is currently the council’s vice president and is expected to be chosen as the president for the upcoming term.
In the District 5 council race, unopposed council member Tom Hucker (D) was re-elected to his second term. Hucker was first elected to the council in 2014 after representing District 20 as a state delegate in the General Assembly for eight years.
County down ballot races
In the Montgomery County sheriff’s race, two-term incumbent Darren Popkin (D) defeated Jae Hwang (R), garnering 75.7 percent of the vote to Hwang’s 24.3 percent
Montgomery County State’s Attorney John McCarthy (D) was re-elected with no opposition. McCarthy has served in his position since 2006.
Montgomery County Circuit Court associate judges James A. Bonifant, Jeannie E. Cho, Jill Reid Cummins, Debra L. Dwyer, Kevin G. Hessler, David W. Lease and Margaret Marie Schweitzer were all re-elected Tuesday. None of the seven judges faced any opposition.
For more election results, check here.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media