Reardon Sullivan, who resigned as chair of the Montgomery County Republican Party (MCGOP) to run unsuccessfully for county executive in 2022, is back in charge of his party’s local central committee.
Sullivan’s chairmanship was announced in Monday’s edition of the central committee’s newsletter. Sullivan’s return followed the decision of party chair Stacey Sauter to step down just weeks after assuming the role. Sauter was elected as chair in January after the term of the previous chair, Dennis Melby, ended in December 2024.
“Unfortunately, [Sauter’s] commitments to her main job as a Realtor took off and she felt that she would not have the bandwidth to give the MCGOP the time that it deserved, so she decided to step down,” Sullivan told Bethesda Today in an email Monday.
According to Sullivan, a nominating committee was formed, the position was advertised per the committee’s bylaws, and Sullivan was elected on Feb. 25 by his peers as the new chairman. Sullivan said he is grateful to Melby and Sauter, who served as vice chair in 2024, for their previous leadership.
Supported by the MCGOP, Sullivan was the driving force behind the term-limit referendum passed by county voters in November. That referendum amended the county charter to restrict the county executive to serving two terms. Because of the referendum, County Executive Marc Elrich (D), who is serving his second term after defeating Sullivan in 2022, cannot run for the seat again.
Due to Montgomery County’s Democratic stronghold – more that 60% of registered voters are Democrats, and all of the county’s elected representatives are Democrats – MCGOP has largely focused its efforts on different ways of influencing policy. In addition to the term-limit referendum, the committee became involved in the 2024 county school board election and led a campaign to encourage Republican and independent voters to cast their ballots by mail.
Sullivan said in his email he is focused on a “common sense” agenda for the party.
“In 2025 the MCGOP has been given a lot of ‘gifts’ from the County Executive and County Council that many of the voters don’t support” ranging from Building Energy Performance Standards that seek “to eliminate gas heating by 2035” to bans on plastic bags and gas-powered leaf blowers, Sullivan said. “As we strive to make the voters aware of these over-reaching laws, we are hopeful that we can bring some common sense back to Montgomery County.”
Sullivan did not immediately respond to Bethesda Today’s request for comment Thursday afternoon about whether he plans to run for county executive in 2026.
County Democrats elect new District 16 leadership
The Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) elected Bama Athreya on Feb. 25 as its new female representative for District 16 on the committee. The district encompasses parts of Bethesda. Each legislative district has one male and one female representative on the committee, which has 26 members total.
Athreya served as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) deputy assistant administrator at the Bureau for Inclusive Growth, Partnerships, and Innovation before she lost her job as part of the Trump administration’s mass layoffs at the agency in January, according to her LinkedIn page. She had been at the agency since January 2022 and prior to that was a research fellow at the Open Society Foundations in Washington, D.C.
“I know many people care about what happens nationally, but where we all can really make a difference is locally,” Athreya said in an email to Bethesda Today on Thursday. “I am glad to have this chance to be even more involved in our community. Politics and public policy affect all our lives, and when more of us are engaged, we get better representation that benefits ALL of us.”
The other candidates interviewed for the post were Nakeesha Ceran, Lavontte Chatmon, Geralyn O’Marra and Heather Weaver.
