By Adam Pagnucco.
Everyone who meets Gabe Albornoz says the same thing: “What a nice guy!” And it’s true. If I get run over by a bus and I have to pick one politician to take care of my kid, it would be Gabe. (And Gabe has a bunch of kids already so he would be good at it!) Being seen as a nice guy is a real asset in politics; just ask Gabe’s political mentor, Ike Leggett. But if Gabe wants to be the top dog in county politics, he needs to be more than just a nice guy. He needs to be an elite player.
Gabe Albornoz was Leggett’s Director of Recreation for almost his entire tenure as executive. He was also chair of the county’s Democratic Party. Those two roles gave him a governmental network and a political network, and when fused with Leggett’s network, they were enough to earn Albornoz a fourth-place finish in the 2018 council at-large race.
This time around, Albornoz raised a decent $320,183 in public financing and was endorsed by the Washington Post, SEIU Locals 500 and 32BJ, MCGEO, the career and volunteer fire fighters, the police union and the realtors. He caught a break when MCEA dumped Brandy Brooks over her staff scandal and picked him up instead. Incumbents who are supported by both the Post and MCEA rarely lose.
In the end, Evan Glass leapfrogged Will Jawando for first place, Jawando finished second and Albornoz finished third. Albornoz’s margin over fourth place finisher Laurie-Anne Sayles (14,697 votes) was larger than his gap with Glass (12,114), cementing the three incumbents in a different place than the other candidates. That said, Albornoz’s performance did not have Glass’s countywide breadth or Jawando’s regional strength in East County.
The chart below shows Albornoz’s results by local area and region. Bars in dark green show a first place finish. Bars in Kelly green are second. Bars in light green are third, bars in yellow are fourth and bars in white are fifth.
Albornoz’s biggest political assets were his solid performances in Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Kensington and Potomac. Those areas not only have lots of votes; they also make lots of political contributions. However, he doesn’t own those places as Glass finished first in all of them. Albornoz’s weaknesses were in Takoma Park, Silver Spring Downtown, Silver Spring East County and Burtonsville, areas ruled by Jawando. Overall, this was a good performance but not a great one.
Now let’s look at how Albornoz did in the county’s racially concentrated precincts. (See my methodology post for definitions.) Kelly green shows a second place finish, light green shows third place and yellow shows fourth place.
Albornoz did best in heavily White and Asian precincts, finishing second in them to Glass. He finished third in Latino precincts behind Glass and Jawando. He finished fourth in Black precincts behind Jawando, Glass and Laurie-Anne Sayles. This is consistent with his geography above.
Albornoz is one of four 2018 freshmen who seem destined to vie for leadership in a post-Marc Elrich era. (This year’s fresh-women will have something to say about that.) Albornoz has some advantages, including a lack of enemies, 16 years of experience in county government and a large number of well-wishers. But if he wants to compete against the rest of his class to move up, he needs a brand and a policy agenda. Andrew Friedson has those things. So does Will Jawando. So does Evan Glass. I bet at least a couple of the new council members will develop those things too. (Watch Kristin Mink.) In politics, you’re either moving up or you’re moving down because all things are relative.
Which way will Gabe Albornoz move?