By Adam Pagnucco.
Yesterday, I broke the news that the Affordable Maryland PAC, a Super PAC financed by the real estate industry, had placed a $232,000 TV ad buy against Council Member Will Jawando, who is running for executive. The Super PAC has another $940,000 remaining that it could use against Jawando or for other purposes.
Now the Affordable Maryland PAC has released its ad – a scathing indictment of Jawando over schools and taxes. The ad and its accompanying press release are shown below.
*****
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15, 2026
Contact: Jonathan Robinson, Chair, Affordable Maryland PAC
NEW AD CAMPAIGN URGES MONTGOMERY COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY VOTERS: “IT’S OKAY TO VOTE NO ON JAWANDO”
Affordable Maryland PAC launches video ad and digital campaign documenting Councilmember Will Jawando’s record on schools, taxes, and the cost of living
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MD — Affordable Maryland PAC launched a new advertising campaign today, making the case to Montgomery County Democratic primary voters that Councilmember Will Jawando should not be promoted from his position on the County Council to be the County’s next Executive. Our campaign focuses on Jawando’s eight-year voting record on the Montgomery County Council, his oversight of Montgomery County Public Schools, and his support for repeated tax increases.
Affordable Maryland PAC, an independent expenditure PAC founded in 2022, is dedicated to making Montgomery County more affordable for current and future residents. As advocates for a more affordable region, a growing economy that provides for all residents, and the need for policies that produce more housing options for all to address the out of control costs burdening county residents, we urge Montgomery voters to oppose WIll Jawando for County Executive.
Montgomery County is in trouble. The last eight years have produced higher taxes, a stagnant economy, and an increasing cost of living burden that has driven residents and businesses out of the county — and that was before the Trump administration’s assault on the federal workforce made things dramatically worse. Families are hurting. The county’s fiscal position is deteriorating. This is not a moment for doubling down on the approach to housing, education, and affordability that put us in such a weakened position.
Our campaign documents Jawando’s record across four areas.
Schools. As chair of the County Council’s Education and Culture Committee since December 2022, Jawando has presided over a stretch in which MCPS graduation rates dropped to a five-year low — falling more than twice as fast as the statewide average — and roughly half of MCPS third graders cannot read at grade level. The same period has seen the system mired in a series of governance scandals, including a sexual harassment matter at Paint Branch High School in which a principal was promoted despite at least 18 internal complaints over seven years.
Taxes. Since 2020, Jawando has proposed or co-sponsored five separate tax increases — including a property tax surcharge, two income tax cap increases, a recordation tax that raised costs on home sales, and a 2025 income tax push. In 2023, he voted against a property tax increase because, in his view, it was not high enough. Just today he cast yet another vote to increase taxes.
Cost of living. Jawando co-sponsored a rent stabilization law that has coincided with a 97% collapse in multifamily housing permits. County planners have publicly identified the policy as the most-cited barrier to new construction. Despite saying he champions affordability and housing, he voted against the University Boulevard Corridor Plan, one of the county’s most significant housing expansion in years and led the opposition to laws that would have legalized townhomes in some parts of the county – all for political reasons.
Montgomery County has become one of the least affordable places in the country. We welcome support from anyone who shares that concern — young adults who can’t afford to move out of their parents’ basement, families who can’t afford a house, seniors who can’t afford to stay, workers who can’t afford to live anywhere near work, employers who can’t recruit because of the cost of living, and yes, people in the housing industry who want to build the homes the county needs. That is a broad coalition, and it reflects the breadth of this problem.
Our arguments stand on their own. The data on housing production, on the county’s fiscal trajectory, on MCPS outcomes — that’s all public record. Voters should evaluate the evidence and make their own judgment about whether Will Jawando is the right person for such an important job. Our message to Montgomery County Democratic primary voters is simple: It’s okay to vote no on Jawando.