By Adam Pagnucco.
I may have done a disservice to Council Member Andrew Friedson because I have written next to nothing about his reelection campaign. In truth, there was little to write because he had no opponent in either the primary or the general election.
But Friedson deserves more attention due to the nature of his district. Council District 1 always has competition, or at least it did until 2022. When the seat was held by Republicans Betty Ann Krahnke and Howie Denis, the Democrats tried hard to knock them off. Roger Berliner succeeded in defeating Denis in 2006, but he then faced serious primary challengers in 2010 (Ilaya Hopkins) and 2014 (former at-large Council Member Duchy Trachtenberg). The 2018 primary was a wide-open affair that Friedson won with 28% of the vote.
So after all of that competition, in a district full of talented and ambitious people, absolutely none of them chose to run against Friedson. Perhaps the fact that he raised more than $600,000 for the cycle had something to do with it. Also noteworthy were his endorsements by the Washington Post, MCEA, the Sierra Club, the volunteer fire fighters and the realtors, a combination that would normally leave little oxygen for challengers.
Now it is time to write something about Friedson since we have his cast vote data. The core of Friedson’s district includes Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac, areas with high turnout and lots of money for campaign contributions. It’s a great base that attracts lots of attention from politicians. The chart below shows who Friedson voters supported in the county executive race.
Among Friedson voters, the county executive race was not close as David Blair led Marc Elrich by almost 13 points. But even though Blair was his voters’ first choice, Friedson received more votes from people who voted for non-Blair candidates than for Blair.
Now to the council at-large race.
Friedson voters would have elected Scott Goldberg instead of Laurie-Anne Sayles. They also ranked Gabe Albornoz higher than Will Jawando. In those respects, they would have made the same choices as voters for David Blair, who shared a base with Friedson.
Of the early major contenders to succeed Elrich in the executive office building, Friedson is the only one who has not run countywide. If one is going to start with a lock on a particular region, Friedson’s district may be the best place to begin. But his major challenge will be to expand beyond it.