In writing this series, I asked some of the county’s smartest and most connected people two questions. Who are the county’s ten most influential elected officials? And who are the county’s ten most influential non-elected people? Sounds simple, right?
Actually, it’s not simple at all. “How are you defining influential?” several of my respondents asked. “That’s up to you,” I replied. And so people went in different directions. One respondent defined influential as “able to get something done, not just perceived self-importance.” Others looked at day-to-day impact on county events. A few went for nationally-known individuals who happened to live in the county. But a lot of respondents identified different people for different reasons, arguing that influence comes in varying forms. Ultimately, my definition of an influential person is someone whom other influential people say is influential. That’s circular thinking to be sure, but it works in this case because the vast majority of our respondents are themselves important players in the county.
Who are our respondents? We will not disclose their identities, but here is the demographic breakdown of the 55 people who answered our call:
Affiliation
Elected Official: 18, Government Staff: 8, Non-Profit: 7, Business: 7, Civic: 4, Labor: 4, Civic/Labor 1 (me), Other: 6.
Race
White: 46, Black: 4, Latino: 3, Asian: 2
Gender
Male: 39, Female: 16
Age
Under Forty: 18, Forty or Over: 37
Residence
Silver Spring/Takoma Park: 20, Chevy Chase/Kensington: 10, Bethesda/Potomac: 9, Rockville/Gaithersburg: 6, Other Montgomery: 7, Out-of-County: 3
Note: Many of the Silver Spring respondents live outside the Beltway.
In discussing their picks, I told respondents that I was not looking for the most popular people, but the most powerful. Most respondents understood that. “I really hate some of these people,” snarled one caller. “They’re evil, but they’re on my list because they have the most juice. And if you ever tell them I voted for them, I’ll strangle you!”
That points to one of the most challenging aspects of this project: the extreme sensitivity of this information. In several instances, bitter enemies voted for each other. In several other instances, public political allies did not vote for each other. That was very revealing: quite a few people are more insecure with regards to their “friends” than their enemies! Of course, many, MANY people voted for themselves. But everyone who answered took a gigantic risk in trusting my pledge of confidentiality and I appreciate that profoundly. In accordance with their wishes, I have deleted all emails related to this project.
In Part Three, we will unveil our list of the most influential elected officials in Montgomery County.