The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) is expediting its timeline for endorsements for the 2026 gubernatorial election and expects to release its recommendations on its “Apple Ballot” in December, the county teachers union announced Wednesday.
Typically, according to the announcement, the union endorses candidates in February, which is the deadline for candidates to file with the state Board of Elections to run for office.
“We believe that this cycle’s earlier endorsement process will give us more time to raise awareness of educators’ preferred candidates with the public,” MCEA President David Stein said in the announcement.
Several local offices are up for reelection in 2026, including county executive, eight County Council seats and four school board seats. The seats up for reelection on the County Council include those for districts 1 through 7, and at-large. On the school board, an at-large seat and those representing district 1, 3, 5 are up for reelection.
As of Thursday, no candidates have filed for the school board seats, according to the Maryland Board of Elections. County Councilmember Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6) is the only candidate who has filed to run for a council seat so far. In the county executive race, councilmembers Evan Glass (D-At-large), Will Jawando (D-At-large) and Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1) have announced their candidacies. Registered medical assistant Celeste Iroha and businessman Mithun Banerjee, both of Silver Spring, are also candidates in the county executive race.
The deadline for candidates to file is Feb. 24, 2026, according to the state elections board.
Stephanie Gawlinski, chair of MCEA’s Political Action and Legislative Support Committee, said in the announcement the process for making an endorsement will not change.
“Our recommendation date may be changing, but the democratic process for obtaining our recommendation will not,” Gawlinski said. “It’s ultimately up to MCEA’s Representative Assembly to vote to endorse candidates for the Apple Ballot.”
According to the MCEA announcement, the union’s questionnaire for candidates to fill out will be available August 25 for any declared candidate who has filed with the state elections board. The candidate questionnaire is due Oct. 14.
Candidates will be interviewed by an MCEA interview caucus on Nov. 15. After the interview, the caucus will recommend endorsements to the MCEA Representative Assembly who will vote whether to adopt the recommendations by Dec. 3. The union is set to announce its Apple Ballot on Dec. 22.
The union’s endorsements and the Apple Ballot have influenced past elections. In November 2024, three incumbents on the county school board, who weren’t endorsed by the union, were ousted by voters who instead chose three candidates who had received endorsements. MCEA publicly touted its victory, with Stein saying at a November 2024 school board meeting that “voters listened to us and I hope you’re listening to us now.”
The union also announced Monday that it will run a “friendly endorsement recommendation process” for the 2026 election cycle for state legislators whom the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA) previously endorsed. MCEA said the process would allow the union to take advantage of the MSEA’s previous endorsements.
