Community activist and business leader Greg Wims was selected by Montgomery County’s Democratic Central Committee at a meeting Tuesday night to fill a vacant seat in District 39 of the Maryland General Assembly House of Delegates.
Wims will be the fourth legislator in the Montgomery County delegation to be appointed by the committee this year alone in a process that some legislators and observers have criticized as undemocratic. Currently, 13 of 34 state delegates and senators in the county–or 30%—were appointed by the committee.
The seat was vacated in March by Kirill Reznik, who left to join Gov. Wes Moore’s (D) administration as the new assistant secretary for inter-departmental data integration for the state Department of Human Services. Reznik began his General Assembly career when he was appointed by the central committee in October 2007.
County and state law dictates that, in the case of a vacancy, the county’s central committee must run the process for selecting a prospective candidate in the district. The committee will submit the name to Moore, who is required to make an appointment within 30 days after the vacancy. Wims will serve the rest of Reznik’s term, ending in November 2026.
District 39 includes Germantown, Montgomery Village and other nearby areas.
During an April 12 public forum, Wims said he is very concerned with a rise in teenagers abusing fentanyl and would work with colleagues in Annapolis to create more addiction treatment centers in the county and statewide. Wims said he also wants to work to end hunger in the state and to ensure more affordable housing in District 39 and across the county.
Wims is the founder and president of the Victims’ Rights Foundation, a nonprofit that performs volunteer support services on behalf of victims of violent crimes and attacks. He has also served as the upcounty regional services director.
Wims won the nomination with a majority of 17 votes, beating out five other applicants. 23 members voted.
The other applicants included:
- Robert Bartlett, 2018 primary candidate for District 39 delegate
- Adam Cunningham, 2022 primary candidate for District 39 state senator
- George Lluberes, corporate qualitative research director at Hanover Research, Montgomery County Police Accountability Board member
- Marc Anthony Robles, current MCDCC board member representing District 39 since 2022
- Clint Sobratti, bus driver and union activist, two-time primary for the District 39 delegate seat
Robles received three votes, Lluberes received two and Sobratti received one. Bartlett and Cunningham did not receive any votes.
“I’m overwhelmed. I know that my life has been serving the community, but I didn’t realize that tonight that I would have the votes that I had,” Wims said Tuesday night. “I’ll make this pledge that I will work as hard in this position at the delegate authority that I have all of my life for the community.”
The central committee has now appointed four people to fill General Assembly seats this legislative session alone, and still must fill a fifth.
Former District 16 Del. Ariana Kelly (D) has been appointed to the District 16 Senate seat, which became vacant after former Sen. Susan Lee (D) was named secretary of state for Maryland by Moore on Jan. 10. As a result of Kelly’s selection to the Senate, her House seat was vacated, and Sarah Wolek (D) was appointed to replace her last month.
Bernice Mireku-North was nominated to fill a vacant seat in District 14 of the House of Delegates in January, after former Del. Eric Luedtke (D) resigned to become Moore’s chief legislative officer.
Del. Kumar P. Barve (D-Dist. 17) is leaving his seat in the Maryland House of Delegates to join Moore’s administration as a member of the Maryland Public Service Commission, and the committee will also be tasked with finding his replacement.
The appointment process has come under scrutiny by members of the public, state legislators and even members of the committee itself who say the process is less democratic than a special election would be.
The committee will also vote on a key policy change in May, according to Liza Smith, an MCDCC member representing District 14. MCDCC’s Rules Committee has advanced a proposal that would not allow current MCDCC members to participate in a vote to fill a vacancy if they have applied for the vacancy.
The proposed policy says:
Any current MCDCC member who applies for a vacancy appointment shall inform the Chair of their intentions within 3 days of the announcement of the vacancy and shall be recused from participating in all aspects of the vacancy appointment process, including but not limited to receiving candidate materials, communications related to the vacancy, interviewing other candidates and voting.
Smith has pushed for this change. Current MCDCC members would still be able to apply for vacancies, and would not be required to resign, but cannot participate in the process, including the vote. If the applicant is on committees that have responsibilities related to the vacancy, those tasks and decisions would similarly need to be assigned to other members.
Although not required, current central committee member, Marc Anthony Robles, an applicant for the District 39 vacancy, recused himself from voting Tuesday.
Del. Julie Palakovich Carr (D-Dist. 17) sponsored a bill this General Assembly session that would require central committee members who apply for state legislative vacancies to recuse themselves from voting for the vacancy. However, the bill didn’t make it far in the legislative process.
