By Adam Pagnucco.
Last year saw the creation of a new Super PAC in Montgomery County – the Affordable Maryland PAC. The PAC was founded to support the expansion of MoCo’s housing supply and it targeted County Executive Marc Elrich with a million dollars of negative online and TV ads. Its initial funding came from Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, who contributed $500,000 last June. A group of real estate players headed by Washington Property Company President Charlie Nulsen later put in another $577,000.
One question I had was whether the PAC was going to be a one-off or would outlast the 2022 cycle. That question has been answered as the PAC has endorsed candidates in the upcoming municipal elections in Gaithersburg and Rockville. Furthermore, the PAC has backed up its endorsees with mailers. Its next regular campaign finance filing is due in January.
Affordable Maryland PAC’s press release and mailers are shown below.
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2023
Affordable Maryland PAC, an independent expenditure PAC founded in 2022, is dedicated to making Montgomery County more affordable for current and future residents. This year, we continue to be active in a set of important, but often underlooked elections that will have important impacts on our region’s housing supply and economic growth. Rockville and Gaithersburg elections are coming up on November 7th, and voters in those jurisdictions have a number of choices to make in the coming election that will go a long way toward unlocking further economic growth and vitality in those communities, with important stakes for addressing the housing shortage families all over the county are experiencing.
In Rockville, we are supporting 4 candidates for Mayor and Council to send a pro-housing majority in Rockville’s newly expanded City Council (now 6 members, up from 4) as well as its “open” Mayoral race. Affordable Maryland supports:
Current Councilmember Monique Ashton for Mayor
Land Use Attorney Adam Van Grack for Council
Experienced Government Executive Kate Fulton for Council
Twinbrook Community Association Housing Activist Marissa Valeri for Council
In Gaithersburg, we are supporting 3 candidates for City Council who have a strong record and commitment to pro-growth and pro-housing policies. Affordable Maryland supports:
Current Councilmember Neil Harris for Council
Affordable Housing Finance Professional Dan Lukomsky for Council
Biotech Executive Yamil Hernandez for Council
Affordable Maryland PAC believes it’s important to educate voters on these important issues that impact us all, both in high-profile countywide elections as well as significant elections that don’t draw as much attention, like the ones in Rockville and Gaithersburg.
The mailers that Affordable Maryland PAC is sending to 10,000 households in both jurisdictions are included below.
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