The Montgomery County Education Association, which represents the county’s 12,000 teachers, late Wednesday announced its endorsement of Councilmembers Marc Elrich and Hans Riemer for another term in their at-large seats – but declined to offer its backing to at-large Councilmember George Leventhal, whom the group endorsed four years ago.
Completing its list of endorsements in advance of the June 24 Democratic primary, the teachers group also backed Councilmember Roger Berliner in Bethesda/Potomac-based District 1, where Berliner is facing a competitive challenge from former Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg.
The backing of the MCEA is perhaps the most coveted endorsement in Montgomery County elections, with the Washington Post editorial page offering the only other endorsement with similar clout. Those chosen by the MCEA appear on the union’s influential “Apple Ballot”, which is distributed widely prior to and on the day of the primary.
For Leventhal, the MCEA’s decision appears to put his bid for a fourth term in some jeopardy. In recent weeks, he also has failed to receive the backing of two other major county unions that endorsed him four years ago: SEIU Local 500, which represents the non-teaching support staff in Montgomery County Public Schools and the adjunct faculty at Montgomery College, and UFCW Local 1994 MCGEO, which represents about 8,000 non-uniformed county government workers.
Those involved in the teachers’ union endorsement process “considered the temperament of each candidate and how he/she interacted with the interview teams and with school system leaders during the recent Montgomery County budget discussions,” said a release from the MCEA. The latter statement was said to be aimed at Leventhal, described by sources as confrontational in his interview with the MCEA – a complaint similar to that voiced by sources close to the SEIU and MCGEO during those unions’ interview processes.
But, reached for comment Wednesday evening, Leventhal denied he had been confrontational in his meeting with the teachers’ group. “I was not belligerent, I was not argumentative. I was quite civil,” he declared, noting that he recently joined other members of the council in “[voting] unanimously for a budget that funded everything that the school board asked for.”
However, leading members of the MCEA are said to feel that Leventhal was often hostile to school officials during the recent County Council budget deliberations.
Declared Leventhal: “The school system unions want candidates to pledge permanent support for whatever the school system may ask for. I am not in a position to promise what our economic conditions will be in the future. I could not promise always, under any circumstance, to increase funding…If we did not learn anything from the experience of the recession, shame on us.”
Leventhal also questioned why he and at-large Councilmember Nancy Floreen had not received the MCEA’s backing, while Elrich and Riemer had. “I don’t think any positions that Nancy Floreen or I have taken [on the school budget] have been any different than those that Mr. Elrich or Mr. Riemer have taken,” Leventhal said.
Unlike Leventhal, Floreen – often seen as the most pro-business of the nine Democrats on the council – did not receive the MCEA endorsement four years ago. She was the only one of the four current incumbents who managed to win an at-large seat four years ago without the teachers’ union backing.
This year, Floreen won the endorsement of the other major school system union, the SEIU, which she also had in 2010 – as did Elrich and Riemer. The SEIU this year again has endorsed Elrich and Riemer as well, dropping Leventhal in favor of Beth Daly, an Upcounty civic activist who is one of two non-incumbent candidates for the four at-large seats on the council, along with Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee member Vivian Malloy.
While the AFL-CIO’s Metropolitan Washington Council announced earlier Wednesday that it had endorsed Daly and Malloy as well as Elrich, Daly is seen as the challenger best poised to grab a council seat if one of the incumbents falters in the primary. She and Elrich were the only two at-large candidates to be backed by both MCGEO and the Sierra Club – whose endorsement carries significant weight in a county where environmental consciousness runs high.
But, while it had two more slots available, the MCEA did not offer its endorsement to Daly. Sources close to the endorsement process said that while she was seen as a prospect for the group’s support in the future, union officials felt Daly’s campaign focus has been on land use and environmental issues – and that she has not yet acquired a detailed grasp of the school system and its budget.
Berliner’s endorsement by the MCEA in District 1 was not a surprise: The group also backed him in 2010 in the face of a primary challenge. It sets up a confrontation in that race between unions representing school employees and those representing workers in the county government — at a time when the school system and other parts of the public sector have found themselves in competition for scarce resources, creating tensions between school and non-school unions.
Berliner had previously gained the backing of the SEIU, while Trachtenberg has been endorsed by MCGEO as well as the AFL-CIO and Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35, which represents the county’s police officers.
Rounding out the MCEA endorsements Wednesday were County Council President Craig Rice, a heavy favorite for renomination over Neda Bolourian in District 2, which includes much of the Upcounty region; and Councilmember Nancy Navarro in District 4, which takes in much of the eastern side of the county.
Previously, the MCEA had endorsed Gaithersburg Councilmember Ryan Spiegel, running in the primary against three other candidates in Gaithersburg/Rockville-based District 3, and Board of Education member Christopher Barclay, in a five-way contest for the Democratic nomination in Silver Spring-based District 5.
The MCEA previously endorsed County Executive Ike Leggett in his bid for renomination against former County Executive Doug Duncan and current District 3 Councilmember Phil Andrews. Leggett also has gained the backing of SEIU Local 500.
Officials of the other of the county’s major public employee unions, MCGEO, are slated to meet early next week to discuss that group’s endorsement. MCGEO’s relationship with Leggett was strained to the breaking point over wage and benefit issues during the recession, and there is said to be strong sentiment within the group to endorse Duncan.
But some leading members of that group are also leery of taking on Leggett – widely seen as the frontrunner in the race – and may push for the union to take a no-endorsement position.
