Tonight, Montgomery County’s Democratic precinct captains gathered to cast their votes on whether to recommend slots on the party’s sample ballot. Their overwhelming recommendation: NO.
Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (MCDCC) member and MPW guest blogger Marc Korman described MCDCC’s sample ballot recommendation procedure last week. The Central Committee appointed a ballot issue committee to study four issues: early voting, slots, an anti-tax proposal by Robin Ficker and the transgender referendum (which was decided by Maryland’s Court of Appeals). The ballot committee recommended supporting early voting and opposing both slots and the Ficker proposal.
Step two was a vote by the Democratic precinct captains, which took place tonight. They voted 112-4 in favor of early voting, 102-2 against Robin Ficker’s anti-tax proposal and 97-17 against slots. As of this writing, MCDCC is expected to vote in line with the precinct captains’ recommendations, which means all three positions will appear on the party’s sample ballot.
It is the slots vote that has the most meaning. The Prince George’s Democratic Central Committee voted to remain neutral. But an overwhelming majority of Montgomery’s precinct captains – a very important part of the party’s grassroots base – voted against the wishes of County Executive Ike Leggett to oppose the slots referendum. That adds to the fact noted by the Examiner’s Kathleen Miller that voters in the Washington suburbs oppose slots by a 50-42 margin – the only region in the state to lean in that direction.
Black churches in Prince George’s County and MCDCC’s sample ballot will now argue against slots in the state’s most-heavily Democratic area. Will that be enough to stop the referendum? And will all of this be enough to cause a rift between Montgomery’s County Executive and his party faithful?