This story was updated at 12:10 p.m. Aug. 18, 2022, to include more details about the planning of Biden’s visit. It was updated at 4:15 p.m. Aug. 19, 2022, to include the time and place of the visit.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are visiting Montgomery County next week as part of local efforts to convince Democrats to vote in the November general election.
The Bidens and other political leaders will speak in the county Aug. 25, according to a Wednesday notice from the Montgomery County Democratic Party. On Friday, the Democratic National Committee announced the visit would be from 4:30-8 p.m. at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville.
“There’s so much at stake in the upcoming election, and it’s imperative that we elect Democrats up and down the ballot in November,” the notice from the county’s Democratic Party reads. “Hear directly from Democratic leadership and special guests, and learn more about how you can do your part to elect Democrats in November.”
Arthur Edmunds, chair of the county’s Democratic Central Committee, said that the Democratic National Committee reached out to the state’s Democratic Party, after that organization learned that Biden wanted to visit Maryland. The state party then reached out to local Democratic leaders, Edmunds said.
“I can’t get into the why, I can’t speculate on that piece of it, [but] I know that we’ve got a competitive governor’s race and he wanted to get out and rally the troops,” Edmunds said about why Biden or Democrats chose Maryland or Montgomery County.
In statewide races, Democrat Wes Moore, a former nonprofit leader, author, and Army veteran, is facing off against Dan Cox, a Republican delegate from Frederick County, in the governor’s race. David Lashar is the Libertarian candidate, Nancy Wallace is the Green Party candidate, and David Harding is the Working Class Party candidate.
In the attorney general race, Republican Michael Anthony Peroutka faces U.S Rep. Anthony Brown, the Democratic nominee. In the race for comptroller, Democrat Brooke Lierman, a Baltimore city delegate, is running against Harford County Executive Barry Glassman.
Other elected offices on the local ballot include multiple seats in the General Assembly, along with Montgomery County executive and 11 County Council seats — seven districts and four at large. County voters approved a charter amendment on the 2020 ballot in November, increasing the size of the council from 9 to 11 members.
