The Montgomery County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 35, which represents more than 1,400 retired and active law enforcement officers in the county, has endorsed Republican candidate Jae Hwang in the county sheriff’s race. Hwang, the deputy commander of the county police department’s 5th District station in Germantown, is challenging two-term incumbent Sheriff Darren Popkin (D) in Tuesday’s general election.
In a press release Monday, FOP Vice President Lee Holland cited Hwang’s experience with the county police as well as military service as the qualifications that make him the ideal choice.
“Jae Hwang believes strongly in the work rights of law enforcement officers. FOP Lodge 35 believes Jae Hwang’s experience in the United States Military as a [Judge Advocate General] attorney and his time on the Montgomery County Police Department gives him the experience, knowledge and proven leadership abilities essential to lead the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office,” he said.
In an interview, Holland said the union endorsed both Hwang and Popkin during the primary because both candidates were running unopposed in their respective races, but that Hwang declined the endorsement at the time. The endorsement protocol for the general election differed, he said.
“For the general we were only going to pick one [candidate],” he said.
Holland declined to comment further on why the union endorsed Hwang over Popkin in the general election.
Hwang said the union contacted him Friday to let him know it would be endorsing him. He said he declined the union’s endorsement during the primary because it didn’t make sense to him for the union to endorse two candidates who were running for the same office.
“I said, ‘We only have two people running,’ so I asked them if they can go ahead and make a choice,” he said. “The most important thing is that they endorsed one candidate for the general, [and] that [candidate] was me.”
The sheriff is responsible for overseeing the county’s domestic violence unit, child support enforcement, criminal warrants, court security and the service of all court processes according to the sheriff’s office website. The sheriff’s term is four years.
Popkin, who was first elected sheriff in 2010 and previously served as chief deputy sheriff for 12 years, said Monday he wasn’t aware the union had endorsed only Hwang in the general election until seeing the announcement Friday. He said he was contacted about six months ago by police Detective Jim Peacock, a representative from the union, who said it would be endorsing both candidates.
“I even asked him [Peacock], ‘Would you like me to come in for an interview or come in for a questionnaire?’ And he said ‘No. We know both of you. We’re going to give you both the endorsement.’ He [Peacock] never mentioned the primary. Obviously, whatever further the decision they have made, it didn’t occur until Nov. 2,” Popkin said.
Popkin said since both he and Hwang were running unopposed in their primaries, the dual endorsement made sense. But no one from the union contacted him in the months after the primary to let him know the procedure would be different for the general election. On Friday, the FOP’s endorsement had been listed on his campaign website under the endorsements section, but by Monday it had been removed.
Dan Schere can be reached at Daniel.schere@moco360.media. Bethesda Beat reporter Glynis Kazanjian contributed to this story.
