By Adam Pagnucco.
Last January, the Committee for Better Government – which is pushing for a charter amendment reducing county executive term limits from three to two – filed a campaign finance report showing that it was nearly broke. Well, according to its new report filed on Friday, that has changed in a BIG way.
Who is behind the effort to eject County Executive Marc Elrich from office? Let’s find out!
Since it was formed on March 26, 2023, the committee has collected $117,975 and spent $72,894, leaving it with a cash balance of $45,081. Following is the identity of all contributors who gave the committee at least $5,000.
Empower Montgomery: $25,000
A 501(c)(4) founded by Washington Property Company President Charlie Nulsen. Empower and/or other committees led and/or financed by Nulsen have been active in the 2018 and 2022 elections.
Gingery Development Group: $25,000
A MoCo development company led by Monte Gingery, who is the second vice chair of the county GOP.
Reardon “Sully” Sullivan: $21,100
Sullivan is the former chair of the county GOP, the GOP nominee for county executive in 2022 and the chairman and leader of the Committee for Better Government. He is the founder and owner of a MoCo engineering company.
McFall and Berry Landscape Management: $10,000
A landscape management company with offices in Olney and Annandale, VA.
PAC for the Metro Washington Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors: $10,000
An association of non-union construction contractors that opposes use of project labor agreements requiring collective bargaining.
Nicholas G. Paleologos: $10,000
Co-Chairman Emeritus of Miller and Long, a Bethesda company that is one of the nation’s largest concrete contractors.
Southern Management Companies: $10,000
One of the region’s largest rental housing owners with many properties in MoCo.
Apartment and Office Building Association (AOBA): $5,000
An association representing the commercial and multifamily residential real estate industries.
The committee has spent $66,000 on payments to Let the Voters Decide, LLC of Kissimmee, Florida, a company that gathers ballot signatures. Those payments were made on March 7, May 9 and June 7 of 2024. This means that at least some of the signatures now being submitted by the committee were professionally obtained.
Elrich has built a decades-long political career on being the archenemy of the development industry and that’s coming back to bite him now.
Here is the big question.
Assuming that the term limits amendment makes the ballot and the county council adds a competing charter amendment to frustrate its passage, will the real estate industry pay even more money to ensure Elrich’s defeat?