By Adam Pagnucco.
Part One listed Will Jawando’s assets and liabilities. Part Two looked at Andrew Friedson. Not let’s examine Evan Glass.
Evan Glass
Assets
Glass made a detailed, multi-pronged case for his run for executive.
Temperament: Glass is likable and substantive, coming across like an adult. He is very careful about his tone in both written and verbal communications. At his best, his public persona reminded me of former County Executive Ike Leggett. It’s easy to imagine Glass as a responsible leader of a big jurisdiction.
Council at-large performance: Glass’s 2022 reelection campaign was one of the most successful in recent county history. He finished first in a big majority of MoCo’s communities, which built credibility for an executive run.
Good fundraiser in public financing: Glass couldn’t match Friedson in raw dollars, but he is a pro at raising money in public financing and he minimized his burn rate to maximize comms in the final months.
Lack of enemies: Here’s another thing that reminded me of Leggett – Glass has few if any enemies among the groups that matter in MoCo politics. You can’t say the same thing about Friedson or Jawando.
Mainstream Dem: While Friedson and Jawando staked out positions on opposite poles of MoCo politics, Glass was often in the middle, making him closest to the views of mainstream MoCo Dems. That meant there was a lot to like about Glass and not a lot to dislike.
Liabilities
Lack of outside support: Here is something I often heard about Glass from groups who played in the election. “We like Evan, but he is not a leader on our issues like [Friedson/Jawando].” As a result, Friedson and Jawando swept the endorsements that conveyed real resources, including for outside expenditures.
Rationale for candidacy: Jawando won the competition with Glass for the progressive leadership lane, backing that up with tons of endorsements. Friedson was the candidate of tax restraint, fiscal responsibility and action on housing. Glass’s rationale was… what exactly? Free buses? Pedestrian safety? Slowing down data centers? Standing up to Trump? (All MoCo Dems say they stand up to Trump and almost everyone hates the idea of living next to data centers.) Glass had a lot of arguments to make for becoming executive – and some were good ones – but they lacked the concise packaging of his rivals. Simple branding tends to beat complex branding in politics. That works against a multi-faceted, subtle fellow like Glass in the context of a one-seat race.
Comparison to Hans Riemer: As Friedson rolled up the dollars and Jawando nearly monopolized progressive institutional support, activists began comparing Glass to Hans Riemer, another at-large council member who was outgunned in money and endorsements and finished third in the executive race four years ago. That prevented major players from thinking that Glass could win and turned into an impediment to momentum in the late spring. Glass’s doubters turned out to be right: Riemer received 20% of the primary vote in 2022 and Glass received 22% this year.
Next: major events in the primary.