By Adam Pagnucco.
Few political weapons in this county have a bigger blast zone than the Apple Ballot, the WMD of MoCo politics. And in a signal that they are going to play hard in next year’s election, the Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) – which deploys it on behalf of MCPS teachers – is going to put it on the field early. Make no mistake, folks: this is a bid for domination in 2026.
In a press release reprinted below, MCEA announced that they intend to announce their endorsements for county executive, county council and school board in December 2025. Why does that matter?
Consider their endorsement timing in the last two cycles. In 2018, they endorsed for council and school board in March and for executive in June. In 2022, they endorsed for council in March and for executive in April. The primary election dates in those elections were June 26, 2018 and July 19, 2022.
In those elections, recipient candidates as well as MCEA itself only had a few months to publicize the union’s endorsements. With the 2026 primary occurring on June 23, the union and its candidates will have a full seven months to spread Apples all over the county. That’s huge since endorsement timing matters almost as much as endorsements themselves. For example, consider my article from December 2022 illustrating how the extremely late date of the Washington Post’s endorsement may have cost David Blair that year’s executive primary. That won’t be a problem for this cycle’s Apple holders.
The teachers are some of the savviest players in county politics. This is a deliberate move to increase their power position in next year’s election. Politicians and rival interest groups beware!
MCEA’s press release appears below.
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July 2, 2025
Contact: Michael Schoettle, mceapress@mceanea.org
For Immediate Release
MCEA Announces Revised Apple Ballot Process for 2026 Local Elections
Rockville, MD – The Montgomery County Education Association is excited to announce that it is moving up its endorsement timetable and anticipates publicly endorsing County Executive, County Council, and Board of Education candidates for its Apple Ballot in December 2025.
“In previous cycles, we endorsed candidates for these local races in February, which aligned with the Board of Elections’ candidate filing deadline. We believe that this cycle’s earlier endorsement process will give us more time to raise awareness of educators’ preferred candidates with the public,” said MCEA President David Stein.
MCEA’s candidate questionnaire, which will be available in August, will be due on October 14. Candidate interviews will be held on November 15, and endorsements will be announced the week of December 22.
Although the timetable may change, the process remains the same. Candidates seeking MCEA’s endorsement will be required to complete MCEA’s candidate questionnaire and sit for interviews with MCEA’s interview caucus this fall. “Our recommendation date may be changing, but the democratic process for obtaining our recommendation will not,” Stephanie Gawlinski, the chair of MCEA’s Political Action and Legislative Support Committee, emphasized. “It’s ultimately up to MCEA’s Representative Assembly to vote to endorse candidates for the Apple Ballot.”
“These local elections will help shape the future of public education in Montgomery County, and whether this county will elect politicians committed to fully funding our schools,” continued President Stein. “The buck ultimately stops with these elected leaders – and we need to make sure we elect politicians committed to students and families in our school district.”
For more information on MCEA’s Apple Ballot process, please visit MCEA’s website.
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MCEA represents more than 14,000 classroom teachers, school counselors, speech pathologists, media specialists and other educators in the Montgomery County Public Schools system; MCEA is one of the largest local affiliates of the National Education Association (NEA) and is a leader in building a new kind of educators’ union that responds to the needs of today’s educators and students. For more information, visit www.mceanea.org.