By Adam Pagnucco.
Below are the top ten stories on Montgomery Perspective in June 2026, ranked by page views.
1. State Board of Elections Wants “Detailed Written Explanation” from Jawando
3. What are the Democratic Team Sample Ballots?
5. Jawando Internal Poll Finds Three-Way Tie
7. The Most Influential MoCo Endorsements, Part Four
9. Winners and Losers of the Kicking the Can Budget
10. Prediction Time, Part Three
Last month’s top story concerned an investigation by the State Board of Elections (SBE) of alleged coordination between Will Jawando’s county executive campaign and the Working Families Party (WFP). A week after initiating its investigation, SBE cleared Jawando. In a letter to Jawando’s treasurer, SBE wrote that it “has reviewed and relied on the information provided by the campaign’s legal attorney” that there were no communications, no agreement and no sharing of information between the two entities and that “WFP independently determined and controlled its expenditures.”
Let’s reflect on that. First of all, it’s amazing that SBE’s investigation letter was made public through being published on its website. (It was subsequently taken down.) Second, in its next letter, SBE “relied on the information provided by the campaign’s legal attorney” to clear Jawando. During the one-week interval between SBE’s two letters, how many people did it interview? How many documents did it obtain and evaluate? And what about this point SBE raised in its first letter?
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Please note that under Maryland State Board of Elections guidelines and Md. Code Ann., Election Law Article § 13-226(b), candidate committees and related political entities are strictly prohibited from funding or making contributions over $6000.00 to Super PACs or any entities that exclusively make independent expenditures or electioneering communications. As outlined in SBE enforcement standards, such funding mechanisms are structurally treated as “coordination” under the law.
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What sort of investigation was this?
It’s probably irrelevant in any case. Janeese Lewis George won an absolute majority in D.C.’s mayoral primary despite being found guilty of coordination. No such finding was ever made in Jawando’s case, and if it had, would it have made a difference?
With the election over, the Challenge Ahead looms over the winners. Campaigning is one thing. Governing is another. We shall see what fortitude these winners possess as they face the county’s biggest difficulties since the Great Recession.
On to July!