Primary set for July 19; Early Voting to begin July 7

by Judith Hruz

Editor

As voters cast their ballots in the Primary Election, they will be choosing the candidate of their party who will vie for the office on Election Day on Nov. 8.

In the Greater Olney area, the race for the newly created District 7 seat on the County Council has drawn a great deal of attention this political season.

When voters go to the polls on Primary Election Day on July 19 and again on Election Day, area residents and business owners are hoping that the newly created District 7 – formed during the redistricting process that occurs every 10 years after the U.S. Census – will give the community someone who cares about the district because he or she will live in the community.

District 7 encompasses Olney, Sandy Spring and Ashton, Brighton, Norbeck/Norwood, Brookeville, Laytonsville, Montgomery Village, Goshen, Cedar Grove, Damascus, Mt. Airy and Woodbine. Mt. Airy is divided by Carroll, Frederick, Howard and Montgomery counties. Woodbine lies in Carroll, Howard and Montgomery counties.

The candidates are Andrew Einsmann of Derwood, a real estate agent; Paul Geller of Olney, a longtime community and public school advocate; Sharif Hidayat of Laytonsville, who joined the Montgomery County Police Department because of his desire to serve the community; Dawn Luedtke of Ashton, an assistant attorney general for Maryland; Jacqueline Manger of Olney, a senior official at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business; Paul Schwartz of Brookeville, a former senior federal government official and legislative analyst; and Ben Wikner of Montgomery Village, a pastor for 22 years who founded The Equity Center, a local nonprofit.

Regardless of the individual district in which they live – there are now seven districts instead of the five before redistricting – all county residents will choose four at-large County Council candidates.

    Eleven candidates — eight Democrats and three Republicans — are running for County Council at-large seats.

The Democrats are:

Gabe Albornoz, incumbent;

Brandy Brooks of Kensington;

Dana E. Gassaway of Silver Spring;

Evan Glass of Silver Spring, incumbent;

Scott Goldberg of Four Corners;

Tom Hucker of Silver Spring, incumbent of District 5;

Will Jawando of Ashton, incumbent; and

Laurie-Anne Sayles of Gaithersburg.

The Republicans are:

Christopher Fiotes of Gaithersburg;

Lenard Lieber of Gaithersburg; and

Dwight Patel of Bethesda.

Green Party candidate Dan Robinson will run in the General Election only.

 

County Executive

 

Three Democrats are trying to unseat one-term incumbent Marc Elrich in the race for county executive.

The three Democrats running against Elrich are businessman David Blair, technology businessman Peter James and County Councilman Hans Riemer (D-At large).

The two Republicans in the race are Shelly Skolnick of Chevy Chase and Reardon Sullivan of Gaithersburg.

Green Party candidate Devin Battley of Derwood will run in the General Election only.

 

Sheriff, State’s Attorney, Clerk of Courts and Register of Wills

 

Two Democrats are running for sheriff of Montgomery County. Challenger Robert Bass of Silver Spring is up against Chief Deputy Sheriff Maxwell Uy.

Four Democrats are seeking the position of state’s attorney: Tom DeGonia of Olney; incumbent John McCarthy; Bernice Mireku-North of Silver Spring, and Perry Paylor.

Two Democrats are seeking the position of clerk of courts: Alan Bowser and incumbent Karen Bushell.

Joseph M. Griffin is running unopposed in the race for register of wills.

 

State Senate and State House of Delegates

 

In Legislative District 14, State Sen. Craig Zucker is being challenged in the Primary by fellow Democrat Collins Odongo.

Alex Bieber is the lone candidate in the Republican Primary.

In the Democratic Primary for House seats, incumbents Anne R. Kaiser, Eric Luedtke and Pamela Queen are being challenged by Joshua Dowling and Tom B. Smith

Republicans Kathy Gugulis and Kate Walshe will advance to the General Election.

 

Montgomery County Board of Education

 

Candidates seeking seats on the Board of Education for Montgomery County Public Schools include:

At large: Mike Erickson, Derwood; Michael Fryar, Gaithersburg; J. “Domenic” Giandomenico, Silver Spring; and Karla Silvestre, incumbent, Silver Spring.

District 1: Alexander Fahmy, Clarksburg; Jay Guan, Clarksburg; Grace Rivera-Oven, Germantown; and Esther L. Wells, Gaithersburg.

District 3: Marcus Alzona, Bethesda; Scott Joftus, incumbent, Bethesda; and Julie Yang, Bethesda.

District 5: Valerie M. Coll, Silver Spring; Dawn Iannaco-Hahn, Silver Spring; and Brenda Wolff, incumbent, Silver Spring

The board consists of two at-large members and one member from each of five districts; however, all board members are elected by the county as a whole.

Not all district members are elected in the same year to allow continuity.

All Board of Education seats are non-partisan.

 

Governor/Lt. Governor, Comptroller and Attorney General

 

In state races, voters will elect their party’s candidate for governor and lieutenant governor, state’s attorney and comptroller, along with state senators and delegates.

In the Democratic Primary for governor, the candidates are:

Rushern L. Baker III of Upper Marlboro and Nancy Navarro of Silver Spring

Jon Baron of Bethesda and Natalie Williams of Bethesda

Peter Franchot of Montgomery County and Monique Anderson-Walker of Prince George’s County

Douglas F. Gansler of Montgomery County and Candace Hollingsworth of Prince George’s County

Ralph W. Jaffe of Baltimore County and Mark Greben of Baltimore County

Ashwani Jain of Montgomery County and LaTrece Hawkins Lytes of Prince George’s County

John King of Montgomery County and Michelle Daugherty Siri of Baltimore County

West Moore of Baltimore City and Aruna Miller of Montgomery County

Tom Perez of Montgomery County and Shannon Sneed of Baltimore City

Jerome M. Segal of Montgomery County and Justinian M. Dispenza of Kent County

In the Republican Primary for governor, the candidates are:

Dan Cox of Frederick County and Gordana Schifanelli of Queen Anne’s County

Robin Ficker of Montgomery County and LeRoy F. Yegge Jr. of Baltimore County

Kelly Schulz of Frederick County and Jeff Woolford of Carroll County

Joe Werner of Baltimore County and Minh Thanh Luong of Baltimore County.

Green Party, Libertarian and unaffiliated candidates for governor and lieutenant governor will appear on the ballot in the General Election.

In the race for comptroller, Democrats Timothy J. Adams of Prince George’s County and Brooke Lierman of Baltimore City are on the Democratic ticket. The winner will face Republican Barry Glassman of Harford County in the General Election.

In the race for attorney general, Democrats Anthony Brown of Prince George’s County and Katie Curran O’Malley, two big names in state politics, will vie for the opportunity to go against the winner of the Republican Primary.

Michael Anthony Peroutka of Anne Arundel County and Jim Shalleck of Montgomery County will vie for the Republican nomination.

 

U.S. Senate and House of Representatives

 

    In the Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate, incumbent Christopher Van Hollen of Montgomery County is being challenged by Michael L. Smith of Prince George’s County.

    On the Republican side, 10 candidates are seeking the nod. They are Chris Chaffee of Calvert County, George Davis of St. Mary’s County, Nnabu Eze of Baltimore County, Lorie R. Friend of Garrett County, Reba A. Hawkins of Baltimore City, Jon McGreevey of Baltimore City, Joseph Perez of Prince George’s County, Todd A. Puglisi of Montgomery County, James Tarantin of Montgomery County and John Thormann of Baltimore County.

    In the Democratic Primary for the 8^th District of the U.S. House of Representatives, which now includes most of the Greater Olney area, incumbent Jamie Raskin is being challenged by Andalib Odulate of Howard County.

    Gregory Thomas Coll of Montgomery County and Michael Mihirate Yadeta of Montgomery County are seeking the Republican nod.

    Libertarian candidate Andres Garcia of Montgomery County will appear on the ballot in the General Election only.