Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.) introduces Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando (D) before he speaks at a campaign event Monday at Zinnia Restaurant in Silver Spring. (Photo by William J. Ford/Maryland Matters)
The primary must be getting close: Candidates are trotting out their big-name supporters for the final push.
In case that wasn’t obvious enough, Montgomery County executive candidate Will Jawando’s campaign labeled their event in Silver Spring on Monday evening “The Final Push.” The event at Zinnia Restaurant was highlighted by Sen. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), who was joined by dozens of Jawando supporters, including three council members, state Treasurer Dereck Davis (D) and outgoing County Executive Marc Elrich (D), who is running for an at-large council seat after running up against term limits as executive.
“I trust in and believe that Will Jawando … will work with others … to ensure that Montgomery County is prospering, that you are safe and sound and that we’re ready for the future,” Alsobrooks said of Jawando, a two-term Democratic at-large councilmember.
Besides Alsbrooks and Davis, Jawando said the campaign has garnered more than 100 endorsements from various educators, teachers, labor unions and residents, among others.
“I think they’re [endorsements] important in the sense that they’re validators for people who respect the endorser, especially when you have a wide variation of people from a lot of different cross sections,” Jawando said in a brief interview before Monday’s event. “I just think it shows that you can also get stuff done, work with people you’re going to need to work with to help the residents.”
Not to be outdone, two of Jawando’s council colleagues who are also seeking the Democratic nomination for county executive took the chance to tout their support Monday.
The campaign for District 1 Councilmember Andrew Friedson, who has raised one of the highest amounts among all campaign accounts in the state, at about $2.2 million, highlights the 2,300 individual contributions to his campaign. As far as political endorsements, Friedson has the backing of state lawmakers from Montgomery County, including Senate Majority Leader Nancy King and Sens. Brian Feldman and Cheryl Kagan.
“Andrew’s campaign enters early voting with a clear lead and undeniable momentum,” Friedson campaign manager John Block wrote in an email Monday night. “Andrew is the one candidate focused consistently on affordability and trusted to create jobs, make government work, and hold the line against constant tax hikes.”
At-large Councilmember Evan Glass said in an emailed statement he held his 109th meet-and-greet event Monday night. He noted support from various state lawmakers from the county, including Sen. William C. Smith Jr. and Dels. Joe Vogel, Lesley Lopez, Julie Palakovich Carr and Bonnie Cullison, and added an endorsement Tuesday from Council President Natali Fani-Gonzalez.
“The grassroots support we’ve built can’t be bought with expensive fundraisers or fueled by corporate interests. It’s powered by people who care deeply about the future of Montgomery County,” Glass’ statement said. “As we head into the final stretch, the momentum is clearly on our side.”
Mangione moves from Annapolis to Towson
Del. Nino Mangione (R-Baltimore County) was already leaving the General Assembly to run for a seat on the Baltimore County Council, but the schedule was expedited over the weekend.
The Baltimore County Republican Central Committee chose Mangione Saturday from a field of seven applicants looking to fill out the term of former District 3 Council member Wade Kach, who resigned early last month for health reasons.
Mangione resigned his seat in the Maryland House Monday and was sworn in Monday evening to the council seat — just in time for the council to go on its summer recess.
District 3, which covers the northern part of the county, will be slightly reduced in size and renumbered District 5 under a redistricting plan will expand the council from the current seven seats to nine next year. The footprint of the two districts is essentially the same, however.
Republican voters will go to the polls on the June 23 primary to choose between Mangione and Gunpowder Riverkeeper Theaux LeGarceur to be the party’s nominee for the council seat in November, when the primary winner could face Democrat Shawn McIntosh and independent candidate Cory Shaffer for the council seat.
Before Monday, Mangione represented legislative District 42A, which sprawls over the northern half of the county. He was first elected in 2018 and began serving in 2019, winning reelection in 2022.
He replaces Kach, a Republican who served just under 40 years in the House of Delegates, from 1975 to November 2014, when he resigned to take the job on the county council, where he remained until last month.
New month, new laws
Most of the bills passed by the legislature this year, will take effect on July 1 or Oct. 1, but there’s always a handful of June 1 laws, and this year is no different. Some of the bills that became laws on Monday include:
Senate Bill 720, sponsored by Sen. Katie Fry Hester (D-Howard and Montgomery), that requires the state Department of Education to issue guidance on artificial intelligence. Once the guidelines are published, local school systems will have 120 days to adopt an artificial intelligence policy that aligns with the state. About $500,000 was budgeted for the department to create a Maryland AI Education Collaborative, with more than two dozen members, to study uses of artificial intelligence in each school system.
Senate Bill 792, sponsored by Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Anne Arundel and Howard), requires hospitals to adopt policies “describing the protocol of the hospital where there is an immigration enforcement action at the hospital.” The policy must be available to all staff and annual training must be provided, which must also be consistent with guidance issued by the attorney general’s office last year when it comes to “sensitive locations” for immigration actions.
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
Senate Bill 670 and House Bill 1001, sponsored by Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery) and Del. Dana Jones (D-Anne Arundel), gives the state elections administrator, deputy state administrator and local election directors the authority to order a police officer to arrest a person who “breaches the peace, breaches any provision of [state election law] or interferes with the work of the election judges in conducting the election and carrying out their assigned tasks.” The law will in effect when early voting centers open June 11 for the primary.
Senate Bill 806 and House Bill 1420, sponsored by the Joint Audit and Evaluation Committee, that ensures mandatory criminal history records checks are done by certain health occupation boards. Professionals covered by the provision include acupuncturists, funeral directors, morticians, dentists and dental hygienists, dietitians, environmental health specialists and individuals working in a residential child care program.
Originally published at Marylandmatters.Org