Wednesday, June 19, 2013

JUICE: Valerie Ervin Exploring MoCo Exec Race, HoCo Blogger Tom Coale for Delegate, Many New Candidates for MoCo Council

Below Maryland Juice highlights a few tidbits of interest to politicos, especially those in MoCo & HoCo:

JUICE #1: MOCO COUNCILMEMBER VALERIE ERVIN FORMS EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE FOR COUNTY EXECUTIVE, OTHER CANDIDATES EXIT RACE - Last week Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett made a long awaited announcement about his future plans, and not surprisingly, he has decided to seek a third term in office. With the biggest variable in the race now decided, we finally have a real picture of what the 2014 race will look like. The Gazette's Kate Alexander provided some very interesting follow-up, noting which candidates are now entering and exiting the race (excerpt below):
GAZETTE: [Councilmember George] Leventhal (D) of Takoma Park said it is “highly likely” he will now run for re-election.... [Delegate Ben] Kramer said he is out and most likely will seek re-election.... [Councilmember Marc] Elrich said he will seek re-election.... [Councilwoman Nancy Floreen] said Thursday she will seek re-election....

Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring has formed an exploratory committee to consider a run for executive. On Tuesday, Ervin would not yet detail her plans, saying that she would disclose “in about a week....”
The Gazette's editorial board followed up on the coverage above with their own thoughts about incumbent Executive Ike Leggett's two terms in office, and they noted a couple issues that they thought could emerge on the campaign trail:
GAZETTE: Looking back on Leggett’s two terms, he deserves credit for navigating the county through extremely difficult economic period, but voters still will have questions. The first would be the Silver Spring Transit Center.... Then there’s Leggett’s labor record, which will be difficult for voters to judge....
Interestingly enough, today The Washington Post's Bill Turque reported that Leggett was trying to get ahead of the Silver Spring Transit Center controversy by accepting responsibility for the project (excerpt below):
WASHINGTON POST: Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett realizes that the road to his re-election in 2014 will have to pass through the Silver Spring Transit Center. While the troubled $120 million project has a lifespan that stretches back into the administration of one of his opponents, former County Executive Doug Duncan, he has apparently decided to deal with it by taking full ownership.... “I accept full responsibility because it happened on my watch,” he said Wednesday on NewsTalk with Bruce DePuyt....
It's early yet, but it will be very interesting to see which issues come to dominate the coming battle for Montgomery County Executive!


JUICE #2: HOCO BLOGGER TOM COALE RUNNING FOR DELEGATE IN DISTRICT 9B - Over the last two years, Maryland Juice has had the opportunity to interact with a few other bloggers around the state, and Tom Coale happens to be one of them. Tom writes the HoCo Rising blog, which as you can imagine, is about life in Howard County. But now the Ellicott City Democrat is on to bigger and better things, as he announced this week that he's running for Delegate in District 9B. The Baltimore Sun's Luke Lavoie reported on his kickoff (excerpt below):
BALTIMORE SUN: Columbia Association Board of Directors member Tom Coale ... to seek a seat in the Maryland House of Delegates in 2014, representing the newly formed District 9B. Coale, a popular blogger in Howard County, announced his decision at a fundraiser in Ellicott City. Coale ... will run on the Democratic ticket in the district, which encompasses Ellicott City and portions of Elkridge and Columbia.... County Council member Courtney Watson, who represents Ellicott City and Elkridge, applauded Coale's diligence on community issues....




Maryland Juice wishes Tom Coale good luck in his quest to represent HoCo!


JUICE #3: MULTIPLE CANDIDATES PLOTTING RUNS FOR COUNTY COUNCILMEMBER PHIL ANDREWS' SEAT - Bethesda Magazine's Louis Peck recently published a round-up of candidates to replace County Councilmember Phil Andrews. Indeed, the District 3 Council seat is going to be vacant soon with the incumbent Councilmember Andrews off and running against Ike Leggett for County Executive (excerpt below):
BETHESDA MAGAZINE: In interviews, former Rockville Mayor Rose Krasnow, former Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce President Richard Parsons and Gaithersburg City Councilmember Ryan Spiegel all said they are considering a run in next year’s Democratic primary for the District 3 County Council seat.  Also eyeing the contest is Guled Kassim, a local Democratic activist who previously has run for state delegate.

...the current CEO of the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce, Gigi Godwin, quashed speculation about a run.... Two others mentioned as contenders for the District 3 seat, Rockville Councilmember Tom Moore and Gaithersburg Councilmember Michael Sesma, are facing re-election to their current jobs this fall....

MUCH MORE ON THE 2014 BATTLES SOON!

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