By Adam Pagnucco.
At tonight’s meeting of its representative assembly, the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) decided on its endorsements in this year’s school board primaries. The lucky recipients are:
At-Large: Rita Montoya, a PTA president, business owner and former public defender from Silver Spring.
District 2: Natalie Zimmerman, an MCPS teacher from Rockville.
District 4: Laura Stewart, a long-time county and state PTA officer from Silver Spring.
This apple will soon have the names of Montoya, Zimmerman and Stewart on it.
All three races feature incumbents. None of them received MCEA’s support.
Four years ago, I analyzed recent school board races and found three keys to winning them: incumbency, the Apple Ballot and the Washington Post endorsement. Two years ago, the Post did not endorse in the primary and I don’t know if they will this year.
I may have to update the above analysis soon given the fact that MCEA has not been endorsing incumbents for some time. But for now, the Apple Ballot remains a powerful tool for acquainting voters with candidates who often have few resources to run their own campaigns. I’m sure every one of the candidates above appreciates MCEA’s help.
I will have more tomorrow.