Affordable Maryland super PAC is back, commits 232K for TV ads to take on Jawando
Group was formed in 2022 to oppose Elrich’s re-election as county executive
By
Louis PeckMay 15, 2026 10:58 a.m.
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The Affordable Maryland political action committee—a so-called “super PAC” formed in 2022 to oppose the re-election of County Executive Marc Elrich—is back.
Affordable Maryland Wednesday reported spending nearly $232,000 for TV ads opposing the candidacy of Will Jawando, currently an at-large County Council member who has the endorsement of the term-limited Elrich (D) to be the next county executive.
According to a filing with the Maryland State Board of Election, the payment for an independent expenditure “media-TV” effort opposing Jawando was made by Affordable Maryland to 2020 Insight LLC, an Atlanta, Georgia-based company that describes itself on its website as a “full service public opinion research firm.”
The ads criticizing Jawando’s record in office were running on at least one station in the Washington, D.C., broadcast market as of Friday morning. The Jawando campaign has yet to begin airing TV ads; one of the other Democratic candidates, Councilmember Andrew Friedson (District 1), began running ads on D.C. broadcast stations this week.
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Jawando was the chief sponsor of the 2023 rent stabilization legislation adopted by the County Council – a move strongly opposed by Montgomery County’s real estate development sector, whose contributions comprise most of the money that Affordable Maryland reported raising.
Affordable Maryland has taken in just less than $1.22 million since February, with $250,000 of that received over the past 10 days. The PAC had about $940,000 left in its campaign treasury with five and a half weeks to go until the June 23 primary, according to its filing.
Affordable Maryland submitted its report several days in advance of next Tuesday’s deadline for candidate committees and PACs involved in races at the state and county level to file a pre-primary accounting of receipts and expenditures with the State Board of Elections.
Unlike traditional PACs, super PACs at the state and federal level such as Affordable Maryland are allowed to raise unlimited amounts from individuals as well as corporations and unions. Super PACs can either support or oppose candidates, but are barred from coordinating their efforts with candidates they are backing.
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Affordable Maryland was started shortly before the 2022 primary and raised $1 million prior to that year’s primary, with half of its treasury coming from a $500,000 contribution by Dustin Moskovitz, a billionaire co-founder of Facebook who resided in San Francisco. The remaining $500,000 raised by the PAC during the 2022 primary campaign came from the Montgomery County real estate and construction community.
A majority of that was from a $250,000 contribution from Charles Nulsen—president of the Bethesda-based Washington Property Co.—along with contributions of $100,000 each from two long-time executives of the Bethesda-based construction firm Miller and Long: John McMahon and Nicholas Paleologos.
This year, all three again have made larger contributions to the Affordable Maryland PAC in the run-up to Primary Day: Nulsen donated $50,000 in March, with McMahon contributing $100,000 the same month. Paleologos gave $25,000 in February.
The largest single contribution during the period covered by the Affordable Maryland report – mid-January through this week–came from another Bethesda-based real estate firm: B.F. Saul Co., which gave $150,000. Another $50,000 was donated by the Washington-based Apartment and Office Building Association’s PAC.
In addition to his contribution to the Affordable Maryland PAC in 2022, Nulsen chaired yet another super PAC, Progressives for Progress, which raised nearly $600,000 from county development interests to promote an informal slate of candidates.
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That slate included businessman David Blair, making his second run for county executive at the time, and several members of the County Council seeking re-election—including Friedson and Councilmember Evan Glass (At-large), who are Jawando’s leading rivals this year for the Democratic nomination for county executive. Blair has endorsed Friedson this year.
Glass sought to put distance between himself and Progressives for Progress prior to the July 2022 primary, charging in a statement the month before that the Progressive for Progress slate “does not reflect [the county’s] racial diversity and the name is misleading.”
While Progressives for Progress remains on the books at the State Board of Elections, the group has shown no sign of becoming politically active this year: It has not reported raising any funds in recent months. Its latest report, filed this past January, showed no money raised during 2025 as well, with less than $10,000 remaining in its treasury.
Besides Affordable Maryland, two other super PACs have become active in the closing weeks of the 2026 primary campaign.
CASA in Action — the political arm of the immigrant rights group, CASA—reported last month that it had spent about $117,000 on an independent expenditure effort on behalf of Jawando and five of its endorsed County Council candidates. A little more than $49,000 of that was spent to boost Jawando’s candidacy.
Soon after the CASA filing, the PAC associated with the Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors reported spending a total of $376,000 for its independent expenditure effort on behalf of Friedson and four of its endorsed council contenders, with $80,400 of that directed to the benefit of Friedson’s candidacy.
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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine