By Adam Pagnucco.
Last Friday, Council Member Will Jawando dropped out of the 2024 U.S. Senate race because he did not see a path to victory. Truthfully, few others saw a path for him either. But there is a silver lining for Jawando and it’s this:
Once again, he has shown that he can raise money.
Consider his fundraising in past races.
District 20 Delegate, 2014: $141,445
Congress District 8, 2016: $535,410
County Council At-Large, 2018: $422,571
County Council At-Large, 2022: $374,782
U.S. Senate, 2024: $751,524
Total: $2,225,733
That’s $2.2 million in a decade, folks. And if he had stayed in the U.S. Senate contest longer, he would have raised hundreds of thousands more. As it is, he finishes this race with a federal cash balance of $322,334 which could be used for a future federal race, transferred to party accounts or contributed to Maryland accounts (with the latter subject to state contribution limits).
It’s a strong cumulative performance from a two-term county council member. His nearest financial rival on the council, Andrew Friedson, has raised $1.1 million over the same period (although Friedson ran in just two races, one of them with no opponents).
We analyzed Jawando’s federal contributions this year. Of his $751,524 raised, 99% came from individuals. The pie chart below shows his distribution of individual contributions by state.
Jawando raised about a third of his contributions from Maryland individuals ($244,616), but he also raised $95,800 from California residents, $83,550 from D.C. residents, $80,992 from New York residents, $43,100 from Florida residents and $21,400 from Virginia residents. All of these totals are understated because he also reported $75,290 in unitemized contributions of $200 or less, so their geography is unavailable.
84% of his receipts from Maryland individuals, or $204,649, came from Montgomery County residents. That includes $61,450 from Silver Spring residents, $54,135 from Bethesda residents, $30,567 from Chevy Chase residents and $22,450 from Potomac residents. Jawando raised just $39,967 from residents of the rest of Maryland, but consider this: he was only in the U.S. Senate race for five months. How much more could he have raised if he had stayed in the race through the primary next May?
Jawando has always been a good fundraiser regardless of system (public financing or traditional) or office. He may not have been able to keep up with David Trone, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, or Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, who may become one of a tiny number of African-American women to ever serve in the Senate. But consider his financial performance relative to potential races for county executive or (maybe some day) Congressional District 8 and Jawando is on a short list of top fundraisers. Combine that with his outstanding performance in the 2022 primary and it’s easy to see why he is one of Montgomery County’s top politicians as well as one of the most formidable local candidates in the state.
So no, Will Jawando won’t be a U.S. Senator next year. But coming off a tour of the state, a significant expansion of his national donor network, solid fundraising in his home county and passage of a monumental rent control law, he is as politically strong as ever.