By Adam Pagnucco.
Part One listed Will Jawando’s assets and liabilities. Now let’s turn to the second place finisher, Andrew Friedson.
Andrew Friedson
It’s unlikely that any major Democratic candidate for MoCo executive has ever run against taxes more than Friedson.
Assets
Discipline: Friedson can’t match Will Jawando’s raw charisma, but few if any candidates can match Friedson’s discipline. Whatever the task is – event attendance, message repetition, fundraising, comms, really anything – Friedson will do it all day long, even when sleep is lacking. He simply will not be outworked.
Leadership on budget, taxes and housing: These three issues were Friedson’s strengths and they were good ones to have in this cycle. They earned him the support of the real estate industry and wealthy, tax-weary and centrist voters.
Money: Friedson is a dogged fundraiser and his lack of opposition in 2022 allowed him uninterrupted opportunity to build a hulking war chest. He needed every penny of it when facing two opponents who had run successfully countywide.
Outside Money: Super PACs and independent expenditure committees played heavily in this year’s primary. Of the executive candidates, Friedson was the biggest net beneficiary of this spending. (One caveat: this does not include the Apple Ballot, which was distributed by teacher volunteers and supported Jawando.)
Council District 1: Friedson’s district is home to voters with the highest turnout and greatest capacity for political contributions in all of MoCo and perhaps even in all of Maryland. If you’re going to run countywide from one district, this is the one to have as a base.
Jewish voters: Friedson was outspoken in Israel’s defense following October 7 and led the charge against CASA’s comments on the war. He was also the leader in passing the council’s resolution against antisemitism. These acts and others helped him win support among Jewish voters.
Good relationships with Annapolis: Friedson started his career working for former Comptroller Peter Franchot and developed a host of Annapolis contacts, translating into many endorsements from the state capital. This would have served him well if he had been elected executive.
Liabilities
Progressives: Progressive endorsements matter a lot in MoCo and Friedson was not competitive for most of them. In addition to not being out front on their issues (like Jawando), Friedson’s support from the real estate industry was a turnoff for progressives.
Development: Friedson’s leadership on housing and development cost him with development opponents, including those inside his district – and especially inside Chevy Chase.
District based: Friedson was a district-based candidate running against two proven countywide politicians (Jawando and Evan Glass). That was an early hurdle he needed to overcome.
Campaign inexperience: For all of Friedson’s talents, he only had one competitive race before this year – his first election for council in which he got 28% of the vote in the primary. Compare that to Glass’s three races and Jawando’s five. That helped Glass and Jawando build name recognition that Friedson did not have, at least at the start of the race.
Next: Evan Glass.