Information technology specialist enters Gaithersburg council race
Lisa Henderson, an information technology specialist who has lived in Gaithersburg for more than 25 years, is running for City Council in the November election.
Henderson leads the development of new technologies for Montgomery County’s criminal justice agencies, and worked on creating the county’s testing and vaccination registration system during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to her campaign website.
She also worked at General Electric in various leadership positions for 16 years, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Henderson hopes to improve affordable housing, economic growth and job training in the city, according to her campaign website. She wrote on her website that there are ways technology can improve city services, such as predicting the housing needs of older residents.
Gaithersburg City Council Members Laurie-Anne Sayles and Mike Sesma, whose seats are up for election this November, are not running for re-election.
Sayles is running for an at-large seat on the County Council in next year’s Democratic primary. Mayor Jud Ashman is running for re-election.
Henderson is the fifth person to declare for the two open City Council seats. The others are:
- Yamil Hernandez, the chief business officer of the biotechnology company ExeGi Pharma
- Dave Belgard, the senior financial compliance officer at the aerospace company General Dynamics Information Technology
- Jim McNulty, who chairs the Olde Town Advisory Committee, a subcommittee of the city’s Economic Development Committee.
- Philip Cook, a data auditor at Vanda Pharmaceuticals.
Gaithersburg will hold its election on Nov. 2. The deadline for candidates to file is Aug. 19.
There is no primary.
Software engineer files in 6th Congressional District
Jonathan Jenkins, a software engineer for government agencies and Fortune 500 companies, has filed for the 6th Congressional District race in next year’s election.
Jenkins, a Republican who lives in Rockville, served in the Marines in Iraq and is a gunnery sergeant, according to his campaign website. He has not run for Congress before.
Rep. David Trone (D-Potomac) holds the 6th District seat, and was first elected in 2018. The district covers much of the northern half of Montgomery County and stretches through southern Frederick County and western Maryland.
Trone has said he is running for another term.
Jenkins was the only candidate to have filed as of Monday afternoon.
Other candidates who have said they are running or created fundraising committees are Democrat Aruna Miller, a former state delegate who represented western Montgomery County and Republican Robert Poissonnier, a retired law enforcement officer who lives in Cumberland.
The 2022 primary is scheduled for June 28 and the general election on Nov. 8.
Fort Detrick employee enters District 8 race
An Air Force veteran has announced that she is running in the 8th Congressional District race next year.
Mariela Roca, a Republican who lives in Frederick, works at Fort Detrick as a medical logistics specialist for the U.S. Army, according to her campaign website. This is her first time running for Congress.
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Takoma Park), the 8th District incumbent, was first elected in 2016. The district spans the eastern part of the county and includes northern Frederick County, excluding much of the city of Frederick.
No one had filed to run to District 8 as of Monday afternoon. Raskin said in an interview Monday he is “definitely running again” in 2022.
Raskin and Roca are the only two candidates who have set up fundraising committees as of Monday.
