Category Archives: 2022 Elections

2022 Democratic Primary, 2022 Elections, 2022 Republican Primary

More Results Coming In, Exec Race a Barnburner

Republicans appear to be going the full wingnut.

Cox/Schiffanelli is taking the gubernatorial nomination. No wonder Gov. Larry Hogan decided it was a good night to be in Colorado. Meanwhile, former Anne Arundel Councilmember and League of the South Board Member Michael Peroutka is on track to be the Republican nominee for Attorney General.

Not going to be easy for Republican candidates running in swingy areas to have to deal with these people at the top of the ticket. Disappointing for the those of us who would like to see a non-insurrectionist Republican Party.

On the Democratic side, it is looking like Moore for governor, Lierman for comptroller and Brown for attorney general as I type. Franchot’s gubernatorial campaign’s support absolutely collapsed in Montgomery where he trails with just 11% in his home county. Perez is winning Montgomery easily with 47% but it looks like it will be hard for him to overcome Moore’s leads elsewhere.

In the Fourth Congressional District, former State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey is easily beating former Rep. Donna Edwards in both the Montgomery and Prince George’s parts of the district.

In the First Congressional District, former Del. Heather Mizeur is set to take on Andy Harris as the Democratic nominee.

In the Sixth Congressional District, Neil Parrott is defeating Matthew Foldi quite easily for the Republican nomination despite the numerous high profile endorsements received by the 25-year old.

The Montgomery County Executive race is once again looking insanely close. Right now, David Blair leads Marc Elrich by 74 votes! However, District 39, which I would expect to be good for Blair, still has the most outstanding precincts. Contrary to expectations, Blair won the early vote but appears to be trailing on election day. My guess right now is that we’ll have to wait for the mail ballots on this one.

In District 34, Mary-Dulany James is easily defeating Del. Mary Lisanti to once again become the Democratic nominee for state senator.

In District 18, Sen. Jeff Waldstreicher is handily turning back progressive challenger Max Socol in that district’s state senate race.

In District 39, Del. Gabe Acevero is also easily defeating a challenger despite his fellow delegates slating with the challenger. Those should be fun delegation meetings.

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2022 Elections

First MoCo Early Votes Up! County Races

I’m hearing turnout was exceptionally light today.

The incumbent circuit court judges are leading in both the Democratic and Republican primaries. Marylin Pierre’s latest bid for this office is falling well short.

First county exec results: 41% for Blair, 37% for Elrich, 20% for Riemer. Good news for the Blair campaign.

Current County Council At-Large:
Glass, 19%
Jawando 18%
Albornoz 16%
Sayles 13%
Hucker 11%
Goldberg 11%
Brooks 7%
Gassaway 5%

The fight for the fourth at-large seat looks tight but Sayles off to a nice start and ahead of incumbent Hucker who is trying to jump from a district seat.

District 2: Balcombe way ahead with 46%
District 4: Stewart way ahead with 47%
District 5: Mink leading with 37%, followed by Barries with 28%
District 6: Gonzalez way ahead with 58%
District 7: Luedtke leading with 36% followed by Manger with 25%.

State’s Attorney: Incumbent John McCarthy way ahead with 50% with challengers splitting remainder.
Circuit Court: Bushell turning back Bowser’s latest bid with 60%.
Sheriff: Uy ahead of Bass with 55%.



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2022 Elections, Chamber of Commerce, Montgomery County Council, Montgomery County Planning Board

Greater Silver Spring Chamber Unhappy with Planning Board, Councilmembers

The Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce’s (GSSCC) county council candidate questionnaire (embedded in full below and also viewable at this link) contains statements revealing deep frustrations with the county’s approach to planning and development extend to the business community.

Though Silver Spring is widely viewed as one of the most vibrant parts of the county, the lack of commercial development outside of restaurants and retail remains a real problem:

The Silver Spring Central Business District was envisioned to become a smart-growth, live, work, and play community.  However, in the past 10-plus years, Silver Spring has evolved into a primarily residential neighborhood (bedroom community), with virtually no commercial office development.  At this point, the County seems to be focused on just the “live” and “play” aspects.  But local retailers and restaurants are feeling the brunt of having fewer and fewer customers during office hours.

If efforts to build what the Planning Board terms “complete communities” with places to live, work and play fall short even in Silver Spring, one wonders how well they can succeed as the model for the whole county as envisioned in Thrive 2050. GSSCC also sees the Planning Board’s approach to this problem as inadequate:

The Planning Board’s Silver Spring Downtown and Adjacent Communities Plan’s sole answer to reviving and expanding Silver Spring’s office market is to simply “improve the public realm (i.e., build more sidewalks, bikeways, parks, etc.).

This is part of GSSCC’s support for a “balanced approach to transportation” that includes roads and parking as well as transit and bike lanes. It clashes with that articulated by the Planning Board in Thrive 2050 as well as some members of the County Council:

The Chamber supports a balanced approach to transportation policies that takes into account the needs of our member businesses, their employees, their customers, and their vendors. That balance must accommodate those who use public transit, drive on our roads, travel by bicycle and on foot, and need sufficient parking options at their destination.

Finally, even in liberal Montgomery County, the focus has shifted from “defund the police” to rising crime:

In recent months, Silver Spring has experienced a dramatic increase in violent crime, which threatens our economy, our business owners, and our residents.  The expansion of our “nighttime economy” has been accompanied by some unintended consequences.  Two recent surveys show that the top concern of most residents is crime and safety.

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