Steve Silverman is best known for his two terms on the County Council and his run for County Executive in 2006. But few people remember that Silverman ran for Delegate in District 20 back in 1994. All three incumbents – Sheila Hixson (who first entered office in 1976) and two-termers Peter Franchot and Dana Dembrow – were running for reelection.
Silverman’s platform was unusually parochial for a MoCo state legislative candidate. In his intro letter below, he questioned why Baltimore City and Prince George’s County were getting sports stadiums and more state aid than MoCo. This message would later work well for Rona and Ben Kramer.
Silverman lost to the incumbents, but he won an at-large County Council seat four years later and would make his mark on county politics. The only other candidate since then who has lost a Delegate race and was later elected countywide is current school board member Laura Berthiaume.