By Adam Pagnucco.
Part One summarized my methodology of consulting my source network on who they believe will most likely be the next county executive. Part Two featured a few general comments from sources. Part Three revealed my sources’ number eight pick (soon-to-be-former Congressman David Trone) and number seven pick (David Blair). Let’s continue.
All comments come from my sources and not from me. Yes, I have opinions about all of these folks, but I am going to save them for future posts.
6. Council Member Gabe Albornoz
Total votes: 29
First place votes: 2
Comments from sources
Insiders discount Gabe, but members of the public do not. They like him, they feel he’s hard working, he represents a portion of the community that does not have a voice, and he’s more sophisticated of an operator than folks realize.
He’s very personable. The Latino population has been expanding. He has executive experience in heading both the Department of Recreation and MCDCC.
Indecisive in his current role as HHS chair, disgruntled with his role on the council, has repeatedly said he doesn’t want another term on the council, has expressed publicly a desire to run for CE. Given his inability to have tough conversations with HHS and MCPS, our two largest budgetary issues in the county, does not bode well for executive leadership. Being a nice guy isn’t good enough for what is needed to meet this moment.
Can’t think of anything major he’s actually done as a council member. Cautious, middle-of-the-road.
People have been telling Gabe he was destined to be county executive since at least the first Leggett administration. He is a nice guy but has not been willing to lead on anything difficult, so nobody really thinks of him as their go-to supporter on the Council. The problem with not offending anyone is that if you don’t make any enemies you don’t make many loyal friends, either. Gabe seems to enjoy the job less than he did a few years ago and I would not be surprised if he just doesn’t have the stomach for a county executive race where Andrew has the moderate, pro-business people and Will, Evan and maybe others are vying to be the progressive candidate of choice, leaving him without a clear constituency.
He used to say he would run (he was Ike’s “hand-picked” successor), but he may have changed his mind. Gabe’s NIMBY-ish lane just isn’t a path to victory in this county anymore.
Gabe has been the anti-Evan in recent years. Willing to go out on a limb and take a stand for what he believes is best for the county even when he knows the farther left councilmembers have the votes.
One of the more experienced potential candidates and has never lost a race for office. He has been in leadership positions as the County has dealt with the great recession, pandemic and everything in between. He is well liked and has built a broad coalition countywide and would have the support of long time County leaders. He has extensive executive experience. However, he is not a strong campaigner and would need to raise a great deal of money to match the war chests of other candidates. He finished fourth among at-large candidates in his first run and third in his second. He has a moderate record on the Council, which could be both an asset and liability.
5. Council Member Kate Stewart
Total votes: 32
First place votes: 3
Comments from sources
Her name comes up a lot as the first woman to ascend to leadership of the current county council. Competent, executive experience, reasonable and focused on doing good. Could be the only woman in the race. Would be formidable should she decide to run.
Democratic primary voters will want to elect the county’s first woman executive. It’s likely she’ll become council president in December, and it’ll be interesting to see how she uses that platform to position herself for future runs.
She probably won’t run this cycle, though she is the only councilmember other than Sidney Katz with political executive experience. But I was annoyed at the all-male list I would have otherwise.
Won’t totally commit to not running, being courted by those who want to see a female county executive. She and Andrew as President and VP have had a lot of keeping things close to the vest rather than collaborating. Will always have the “Takoma Park” vibe. People don’t want another Takoma Park leader because it is a cool jurisdiction but let’s face it, super quirky and not reflective of the 1.1 million residents. She’s smart, she’s efficient, but also equivocates when yelled at loudly by down county fringe advocates.
If there are no other women in the race.
Dark horse. After a year as President of the Council, she will yearn for her days as a Mayor and will likely become very popular among moderates as well as the progressives. Should Kamala Harris win, the notion of a female CE will be inviting.
Barack Obama was a US Senator for 25 months when he announced his campaign for the presidency. From the looks of it, there is no obvious female contender for the Executive’s office. If Councilmember Stewart waits for the end of the next CE’s term, which coincides with the theoretical term-limited end of her 12 years on the Council (2034 for all you math fans out there) she’ll have potentially 5 other term-limited females looking to run for an open County Executive seat. If there’s a President Harris, Senator Alsobrooks, a few women in the Congressional Delegation, and more women in office generally in 10 years, the portion of the electorate who will automatically vote for a qualified female will still be there, but much less than it is right now.
Don’t think Kate will run, but she’d stand a really good shot. The County has never had a woman as County Exec, and Kate is smart, she is hard working, has the best staff in the game, and manages to bridge divides between progressives and business in a way that folks should like. She’d be an instant front-runner if she decided to run.
Incredibly smart and authentic, but probably needs another term or two as a councilmember before she runs.
*****
Next: we will begin the top four!