Maryland Juice PSA: Gaithersburg Election on TUE 11/8/11

Gaithersburg City Manager Angel Jones recently alerted the public to upcoming elections:

It’s an odd numbered year, and that means it is election time in the City of Gaithersburg.  On Tuesday, November 8, 2011 registered voters in Gaithersburg will go to the polls to elect three City Council members.  The terms of office for Council Members Jud Ashman, Cathy Drzyzgula and Ryan Spiegel expire in November. Local municipal elections are typically challenged by voter turnout. 

Incumbent City Councilmembers Jud Ashman, Cathy Drzyzgula and Ryan Spiegel are all running for re-election. But tonight, Ashman and Drzyzgula are kicking off their joint re-election effort (ie: two-person slate campaign) with an event in Gaithersburg. Their colleague, Michael Sesma, sent the following invitation via Facebook:

Inviting my Facebook Friends in Gaithersburg to join me for the 2011 Gaithersburg City Council Campaign kickoff for Jud Ashman and Cathy Carlson Drzyzgula tomorrow night, Tuesday, August 30 at Quincy's Restaurant.

It should (apparently) be no surprise that the pair are hosting a joint kickoff event. The websites at each of the two candidates' matching url's (votejud.com and votecathyd.com) urge voters to support both candidates. Moreover, when the pair filed their candidate petitions together The Gaithersburg Patch noted:

Ashman and Drzyzgula are running together, like they did four years ago, in order to pool their resources and draw on each other's support base, they said.

The two incumbents are running for re-election at the same time as fellow Councilmember and attorney Ryan Spiegel. The Patch also covered Spiegel's July campaign kickoff and noted the attendance of numerous Democratic friends:

“He’s been someone that all of us have realized has the best interests of the city of Gaithersburg at heart,” Mayor Sidney A. Katz said in a speech at the event on Sunday. 

Also in attendance were Gaithersburg Councilman Michael A. Sesma, County Councilman Marc B. Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park, Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville, Del. Luiz R. S. Simmons (D-Dist. 17) of Rockville, Del. Eric G. Luedtke (D-Dist. 14) of Burtonsville, Del. Craig J. Zucker (D-Dist. 14) of Brookeville and Del. Anne R. Kaiser (D-Dist. 14) of Burtonsville.

Spiegel, along with Ashman and Drzyzgula, comprise the three incumbents in the upcoming nonpartisan elections, scheduled for Tuesday, November 8. Together, they are facing only Republican Tom Rowse -- but, prospective candidates have until Monday, September 19 to file. Rowse lost a prior bid for City Council, but he recently announced he would run once again, this time citing 2009 election opponent and Republican City Councilmember Henry Marraffa as a mentor.

So far, I haven't stumbled upon any obvious action in this year's race! In contrast, when Ashman, Drzyzgula and Spiegel first won landslide victories in 2007, Maryland Politics Watch's David Lublin noted the existence of competing slates. But it turned out that Mayor Sidney Katz supported all three eventual winners:

• Ahmed Ali - 917
• Shawn Ali - 460
• Jud Ashman - 2,241
• Cathy C. Drzyzgula - 2,418
• Wilson Lee Faris - 982
• Carlos Solis - 993
• Ryan Spiegel - 2,000

Note that even though there are only three seats up for election this year, the City Council is a five-member body. The Gaithersburg Mayor and City Council are elected at-large to staggered four-year terms. This year only three of five Council seats are up for election. Two years from now, the remaining two council seats along with the Mayor's office will be up for re-election. The current Mayor and two other Councilmembers were elected in 2009 (winners highlighted in red):

CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR

• Sidney A. Katz - 2,623
• Richard Koch - 988

CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL

• Henry F. Marraffa, Jr., - 2,285
• Tom Rowse - 1,400
• Michael A. Sesma - 2,581

Election information, including polling locations and key dates, is 
available online at the City of Gaithersburg website.