With just 10 days to go until the July 19 primary, incumbent members of Montgomery County Council who are running for re-election have all their campaign bank accounts, with Evan Glass breaking the state and county limit for receiving public funding and spending the most money has reached records.
Glass, the vice president of the council, is running for a second four-year term, along with President Gabe Albornoz and council member Will Jawando, as general members representing the entire county. Bi-term councilor Tom Hucker, who currently represents District 5 (Silver Spring, Takoma Park and eastern portions of the county), is running for a seat at liberty this time.
Four challengers are also running for the four available seats in the Democratic primary. These candidates are: Brandy Brooks, who unsuccessfully applied for a vacancy in 2018; Dana Gassaway, a former biology teacher who ran unsuccessfully for county school board; Scott Goldberg, member of the Democratic Central Committee; and Laurie-Anne Sayles, a former member of the Gaithersburg City Council.
Financial reports for campaigns filed with the state through Friday night show that Hucker had the highest bank balance as of July 3 with $161,759. Jawando had the second largest war chest at $102,248 and Glass had $70,039. The reports covered the period from June 8th to July 3rd, with the exception of the Albornoz and Sayles reports, which ran from June 21st to July 3rd.
Glass is the only vacant candidate to have reached the $250,000 limit for funds from the county’s public election fund, according to the county Treasury Department. The county’s Public Campaign Funding Act allows individual donors to donate up to $250 to a candidate, who then receives matching allocations from the public fund. Candidates at large are limited to a total of $250,000 in public funds.
Glass, Albornoz, Brooks, Goldberg and Sayles all use the county’s campaign funding system, while Hucker and Jawando do not. According to state records, Gassaway failed to file a campaign finance report with the state by the July 8 deadline, resulting in a $20 fine.
Albornoz has received $209,954 in public campaign funds while Brooks has raised $189,613. Goldberg received $171,956 and Sayles received $119,908.
[For more information on candidates for local, state and federal races, check out the Bethesda Beat voters guide.]
Glass and Goldberg also cited campaign spending from June 8 through July 3 — the end of the last state filing deadline — with Glass spending $117,584 and Goldberg spending $96,985. Glass spent over half his money on promotional email, while Goldberg spent almost all his money on advertising and Mueller.
Jawando spent $85,558 during that time, about half on Mailer.
In comparison, Sayles spent $2,012.83 from June 21 through July 3. She and Brooks had the lowest amounts in their campaign accounts as of July 3 — Sayles at $6,695 and Brooks at $15,305. Sayles spent just under $800 on print and campaign materials, while Brooks spent about $3,900 on campaign staff.
The primary will take place on July 19. Early voting is open until July 14th. Postal ballots will be accepted provided they are postmarked or placed in a ballot box by 8:00 p.m. on July 19.
Steve Bohnel can be reached at [email protected]
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