By Adam Pagnucco.
The Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors (GCAAR) has endorsed the following candidates in MoCo races:
Bill Frick – County Executive
Gabe Albornoz, Marilyn Balcombe, Hoan Dang, Evan Glass – Council At-Large
Craig Rice – Council District 2
Sidney Katz – Council District 3
Nancy Navarro – Council District 4
Tom Hucker – Council District 5
No endorsement was made in Council District 1.
The Realtors are the most influential endorsing organization in MoCo’s business community because of their volume of activity at election time. In 2014, they spent well into six figures on independent mail and PAC contributions. Despite every one of their county-level candidates winning except District 5’s Evan Glass (who came close), their reward was a recordation tax hike that they bitterly opposed two years later. Rarely has a group done so much and gotten so little in MoCo politics!
This time around, when they had a chance to oppose an incumbent who voted for the recordation tax hike, they did. Council Members Roger Berliner, Marc Elrich, George Leventhal and Hans Riemer, all of whom are in contested races, were left off their list. Rice, Navarro and Hucker have nominal opposition and are sure to be reelected. Sidney Katz’s opponent, Ben Shnider, is running to his left and was probably not a realistic option. The selection of Delegate Bill Frick for Executive, who is running scorching Facebook ads against the County Council, sends a message of discontent.
The big question now is how much the Realtors will do to support their candidates. We are a little more than a month away from early voting. Albornoz, Dang, Glass, Katz and Navarro are in public financing and cannot accept PAC checks. After getting burned last time, will the Realtors sink six figures into mail again? We will find out. Meanwhile, the Washington Post endorsement looms.
We reprint the Realtors’ email below.
