The Montgomery County Board of Elections hopes to finish counting ballots returned for the primary on Thursday and certify results on June 29, more than two weeks behind schedule, a spokesman said Monday.
County voters turned in more than 260,000 ballots in this year’s primary election. It was held mostly in a vote-by-mail format, which has slowed the process. Results were originally expected to be finalized by June 12.
For nearly two weeks, as results have been updated, the order of finish has largely stayed the same in the races for school board seats, three Congress seats and four circuit court judge positions.
Lynne Harris and Sunil Dasgupta have continued to hold the top two spots in the race for an at-large school board seat.
One exception is for Montgomery County circuit court judge.
All four sitting judges have held the top four spots in both the Democratic and Republican primaries. However, over the weekend, challenger Marylin Pierre moved up to the fourth spot in the Democratic primary, ahead of sitting judge Christopher Fogleman.
The top four vote-getters advance in the Democratic and Republican primaries. If Pierre holds onto fourth place in the Democratic primary and the four sitting judges win the Republican primary, there would be five candidates total on the general election ballot.
As of 10:30 a.m. Monday, about 219,000 ballots had been counted, according to data provided to Bethesda Beat by Board of Elections spokesman Gilberto Zelaya. In an email, Zelaya wrote that officials are hopeful canvassing will be completed on Thursday, with final certification on June 29.
That means another two-week wait before results are finalized.
In the at-large race, Harris and Dasgupta are the top two vote-getters and are on their way to advancing to the November general election. In the latest update posted Tuesday morning, Harris has 53,151 votes and Dasgupta has 36,897 votes.
Stephen Austin, a Bethesda resident who is known for his involvement in a Facebook group that has sharply criticized the school board’s ongoing review of school boundaries, is in third place.
Austin has 23,441 votes.
At-large candidates and their vote totals as of 9:25 a.m. Tuesday:
- Lynne Harris: 53,151 (29.5%)
- Sunil Dasgupta: 36,897 (20.5%)
- Stephen Austin: 23,441 (13.0%)
- Paul Geller: 11,467 (6.4%)
- Mitra Ahadpour: 10,768 (6.0%)
- Jay Guan: 9,659 (5.4%)
- Dalbin Osorio: 8,475 (4.7%)
- Anil Chaudhry: 5,903 (3.3%)
- Darwin Romero: 5,709 (3.2%)
- Pavel Sukhobok: 4,837 (2.7%)
- Collins Odongo: 3,818 (2.1%)
- Cameron Rhode: 3,518 (2.0%)
- Lumpoange Thomas: 2,536 (1.4%)
In the District 4 race, incumbent Shebra Evans leads with 112,689 votes. Steve Solomon is next with 50,503 votes. Ehren Park Reynolds is also on the ballot but has withdrawn from the race, and Evans and Solomon are expected to advance to the general election. Park Reynolds has received 11,989 votes.
There was no primary election for the District 2 seat. Both candidates — Rebecca Smondrowski and Michael Fryar — advance to the general election.
Congress
In the race for three U.S. Congress seats that represent Montgomery County, incumbents have built large leads in their respective primary races. Each Republican race also has a clear leader.
Updated results are:
District 3
Democrat (one winner)
- John Sarbanes: 108,080 (82.7%)
- Joseph C. Ardito: 17,244 (13.2%)
- John M Rea: 5,414 (4.1%)
Republican (one winner)
- Charles Anthony: 11,828 (41.6%)
- Reba A. Hawkins: 6,413 (22.5%)
- Thomas E. “Pinkston” Harris: 4,582 (16.1%)
- Rob Seyfferth: 3,170 (11.1%)
- Joshua M. Morales: 2,451 (8.6%)
District 6
Democrat (one winner)
- David J. Trone: 59,649 (73.1%)
- Maxwell A. Bero: 21,952 (26.9%)
Republican (one winner)
- Neil C. Parrott: 27,598 (66.0%)
- Kevin T. Caldwell: 10,470 (25.0%)
- Chris P. Meyyur:3,754 (9.0%)
District 8
Democrat (one winner)
- Jamie Raskin: 97,087 (86.6%)
- Marcia H. Morgan: 9,160 (8.2%)
- Lih Young: 4,261 (3.8%)
- Utam Paul: 1,651 (1.5%)
Republican (one winner)
- Gregory Thomas Coll: 11,983 (41.9%)
- Bridgette L. Cooper: 4,350 (15.2%)
- Nicholas Gladden: 3,779 (13.2%)
- Patricia Rogers: 3,543 (12.4%
- Shelly Skolnick: 2,652 (9.3%)
- Michael Yadeta: 2,299 (8.0%)
***
Circuit court judge
Democrat (top four advance)
- Bibi M. Berry: 106,128 (22.8%)
- David A. Boynton: 82,479 (17.8%)
- Michael Joseph McAuliffe: 81,153 (17.5%)
- Marylin Pierre: 79,673 (17.2%)
- Christopher C. Fogleman: 77,976 (16.8%)
- Thomas P. Johnson III: 37,126 (8.0%)
Republican (top four advance)
- David A. Boynton: 14,822 (21.6%)
- Michael Joseph McAuliffe: 14,785 (21.5%)
- Christopher C. Fogleman: 14,085 (20.5%)
- Bibi M. Berry: 11,492 (16.7%)
- Marylin Pierre: 6,893 (10.0%)
- Thomas P. Johnson III: 6,569 (9.6%)
