Maryland’s 2014 campaign season is officially under way with Tuesday’s opening of the filing period for state and local candidates – a mere 440 vote-shopping days until the June 24, 2014 primary.
But, in Montgomery County, look for next year’s political main event to kick into high gear sometime next month, as the political establishment increasingly places its bets on a showdown between the two Democrats who have occupied the county executive’s job for the past two decades: Isiah (Ike) Leggett and Douglas Duncan.
Leggett is expected to put an end to months of intense speculation about his future in mid-May. At this point, it will be a big surprise if he doesn’t announce he’s seeking re-election.
The political skirmishing already has started, with Duncan charging the county is “reverting back to the old ways of paralysis by analysis” – and Leggett, in a swipe at Duncan’s 1994-2006 tenure, complaining in a recent speech about “years of living beyond our means, even during the good times.” .
Leggett, who as recently as last fall was saying he had no plans to seek re-election, has nonetheless left himself a lot of maneuvering room. “My assumption is that [Leggett] is running for a third term, and I expect he will be re-elected to a third term,” said County Councilmember George Leventhal, who has not been shy about his own interest in the top job.
Leventhal, saying he is definitely in the race if Leggett doesn’t run, suggested that the incumbent’s silence to date “has pretty much put the entire race for county executive on ice,” freezing potential donors and supporters pending official word of what Leggett will do.
But Duncan, declaring that “people [are] signing up enthusiastically to help me in my campaign,” said in an interview late last week that he is the race to stay, with or without Leggett. “I’m out organizing, raising money, going to events and campaigning,” declared Duncan, as he boasted that his “will be the best-run campaign in the history of the county.”
Duncan, after telling a gathering of supporters last November that he was running, did little to follow up in the weeks that followed, prompting many insiders to question how serious he was about a political comeback.
A recent round of activity seems to have put most doubts to rest. Duncan has retained a veteran fundraiser, Bel Air, Md.-based Rachael Rice, and has scheduled a May 19 fundraising picnic. He expects to hire a campaign manager “fairly soon.”
But, with the exception of Duncan and four-term County Councilmember Philip Andrews – who also has said he is in the county executive’s race to stay – it remains a waiting game for other possible entrants.
“I’ll be weighing in when Mr. County Executive weighs in,” said County Councilmember Valerie Ervin. Another possible candidate, former Councilmember Michael Knapp said he is “still looking, talking and watching.”
Will Leggett’s decision determine his plans? “It’s a factor,” acknowledged Knapp, “but it’s certainly not the factor.”
