With the filing deadline for the June primary less than three weeks away, the field of candidates for two open state delegate seats in Bethesda/Potomac-based District 16 has grown more fluid – with two candidates poised to drop out of the race for the Democratic nomination, and at least one other considering a late entry.
Among the developments in recent days:
- Local real estate agent Ted Duncan, who had formed a campaign committee and was ready to run as recently as mid-January, has pulled out of the contest – citing family and business commitments. Duncan, a former president of the Civic Association of River Falls in Potomac, said he plans to “continue to be politically active,” and intends to run for the General Assembly in 2018.
- Veteran political operative Kevin Walling, who announced his candidacy last summer, appears ready to drop out and instead run for a seat on the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee. "In the last couple of weeks, many folks…have approached me to run for the MCDCC as someone who can bridge the divide between labor and current members,” Walling said via email. While he said that he has not yet made a final decision, several sources said Walling has been privately passing the word that he plans to withdraw from the delegate race.
- White House aide Kyle Lierman, who finished second in an 11-person race for an open seat in 2010, is said by sources to be continuing to consider another run for delegate or a run against Delegate Susan Lee for the seat being vacated by Sen. Brian Frosh. A decision by Lierman is not expected until the week prior to the Feb. 25 filing deadline. Lierman declined comment.
Lierman is not the only potential 11th hour contender for an open Senate seat in the county. In Rockville/Gaithersburg-based District 17, Montgomery County Board of Education member Rebecca Smondrowski confirmed she is still mulling a run to succeed state Sen. Jennie Forehand, who is retiring after 20 years in the seat.
Smondrowski, a former General Assembly aide who was elected to the school board in 2012, acknowledged that “I’ll likely be staying where I am,” But she added of a possible Senate run: “I’m very torn. I really love what I’m doing, [but] I’m feeling like this might be once in a lifetime opportunity…My guess is that I’ll be considering it until pretty much close to the deadline.”
If she runs, Smondrowski would be entering what is already regarded as a marquee state legislative contest, in which Delegate Luiz Simmons and former Delegate Cheryl Kagan have announced their candidacies. While Smondrowski had just over $2,600 in her campaign account as of last month, Simmons had more than $100,000, bolstered by $86,000 in personal loans to his campaign. Kagan, who nearly ousted Forehand in 2010 primary, reported just short of $50,000 on hand.
In District 16, the open delegate seats are a result of Lee seeking to succeed Frosh, who is running his party’s nomination for state attorney general, and Delegate Bill Frick also pursuing a campaign for attorney general. Delegate Ariana Kelly is seeking re-election, leaving six non-incumbent contenders presently taking aim at the other two delegate slots. This field includes the early frontrunners, health policy advocate Hrant Jamgochian and attorney Marc Korman, as well as former General Assembly aide Jordan Cooper, local party activist Karen Kuker-Kihl, and former Delegate Gareth Murray. Murray now resides in Potomac after representing a Silver Spring-based district from 2002-2006.
Rounding out the field is attorney/businessman Peter Dennis, who filed last week following an unsuccessful run for delegate four years ago. Dennis is planning a low-budget, Internet-based campaign that emphasizes election reform – while seeking to make an issue of the increasing amounts being raised and spent in local campaigns.
In his 2010 run for delegate, Lierman – bolstered by the wide-ranging connections of his father, former Maryland Democratic Chair Terry Lierman – significantly elevated the fundraising bar. Kyle Lierman took in and spent nearly $200,000; previously, half that amount was considered the de facto ceiling for a competitive race for a General Assembly seat, a part-time position that pays $43,500 annually..
A repeat run by Lierman this year could be complicated by the fact that another family member is already running for office, and drawing from an overlapping fundraising base. Lierman’s sister, attorney Brooke Lierman, is seeking an open delegate seat in a Baltimore-based district, where she was recently added to a slate with two incumbents.
Brooke Lierman raised $124,000 in 2013, with significant donations coming from the Bethesda/Chevy Chase area. The family of the late businessman Abe Pollin – among the leading donors to Kyle Lierman’s campaign four years ago – has contributed a total of $12,000 to Brooke Lierman.
Money appears to have been a factor in Walling’s apparent decision to drop out. He announced last July vowing to raise $200,000. But his latest campaign filing showed him with only $30,000, leaving him well behind Jamgochian and Korman – each of whom reported $100,000.in the bank heading into the final months of the primary campaign.
