Fani-González endorses Glass for county executive citing budget disagreements with Jawando, Friedson

MoCo Council president had said she would not weigh in on the Democratic primary involving three colleagues

June 2, 2026 10:30 a.m.

Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-González speaks during a Dec. 4 press conference on the introduction of the proposed Trust Act, a bill to codify protections for immigrants. Photo credit: Benjamin Sky Brandt for the Montgomery County Council

After previously saying she would not weigh in on the race involving her three colleagues, Montgomery County Council President Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) on Tuesday endorsed Councilmember Evan Glass (D-At-large) for county executive in the June 23 primary election.

Glass, along with fellow Councilmembers Will Jawando (D-At-large) and Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1), are the front runners in the race for the Democratic nomination for county executive.

In December, at her first meeting with reporters after her election as council president, Fani-González vowed not to endorse or co-sponsor legislation with any of the three candidates.

She said she has worked closely with all three councilmembers on various issues and would continue to have a productive relationship with all of them, regardless of who becomes the next county executive.

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Fani-González reiterated that sentiment during an April 24 episode of WAMU’s The Politics Hour with Kojo Nnamdi — but with an important caveat.

“Unless one of them does something incredibly insane and unprofessional during this budget — that might change my mind, but that’s the only way,” Fani-González said, referring to the council’s then-ongoing fiscal year 2027 budget deliberations.

In a Tuesday statement from the Glass campaign, Fani-González cited the council’s budget deliberations as her reason for endorsing Glass.

“As Council President, I tried to work with each of my colleagues to pass a budget without increasing property taxes while investing in critical services. The vast majority of colleagues understood the assignment under critical times,” Fani-González said in the statement.

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“Yet, two colleagues decided to play politics with the budget instead of working constructively to find compromise for the benefit of our residents,” the statement continued. “This experience made my choice for County Executive absolutely clear. Montgomery County deserves a leader who we can depend on when the times get tough.”

Fani-González told Bethesda Today on Tuesday that she thought Friedson — who was one of two councilmembers to vote against the $7.9 billion county operating budget for fiscal year 2027 — “didn’t engage” in the budget process, except to protect items he didn’t want to see cut.

In his comments after the council’s May 15 straw vote on the operating budget, Friedson said he appreciated that the budget approved by his council colleagues increases spending on schools and fully funds contracts negotiated by the county’s public safety professionals and other public employees.

However, he said he could not support the budget because “it still contains tax increases and balloons the structural deficit to nearly $300 million that isn’t affordable for county taxpayers or for county government.”

While Jawando did propose a list of possible reductions to balance the budget without a property tax increase, Fani-González said she disagreed with his plan to use county reserves to fund ongoing expenditures.

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At an April 17 press conference at the council office building in Rockville, Jawando tokd reporters now is not the time for the county to build up its reserves. He said his ideal operating budget would utilize reserves to fund fiscal year 2027 expenses, as Elrich proposed in March. Elrich has endorsed Jawando for county executive

“In a normal year, I would say, ‘yeah, let’s build our reserves,’ ” Jawando said. “But we are in an emergency.”

Fani-González told Bethesda Today on Tuesday it would be “dangerous” for the county to have an executive who thinks that way.

By contrast, Fani-González said, Glass was focused on finding consensus and getting the votes necessary to pass a budget before the June 1 deadline.

“Evan earned my endorsement,” she said.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

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Originally published at Bethesdamagazine