By Adam Pagnucco.
Last month, the Washington Post announced that it was not endorsing in the presidential race for the first time in decades. The decision provoked 250,000 subscription cancellations and produced a rare column by Post owner Jeffrey Bezos defending it. Does this event have implications for local endorsements?
In the past year, the Post endorsed Angela Alsobrooks and Tim Kaine for U.S. Senate and April McClain Delaney for the U.S. House seat in Maryland’s sixth district. It also endorsed in several Virginia U.S. House races and the D.C. City Council races. However, it did not endorse in the Arlington County board and school board races, the Prince George’s County at-large county council special election, the school board races in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties and the congressional races in Maryland’s fourth and eighth districts. (To be fair, the latter two elections were non-competitive.) It has also not endorsed for the Maryland General Assembly since 2014.
This mixed endorsement record along with the brouhaha over the presidential non-endorsement provoked me to write the following in my column about Montgomery County’s next county executive race:
Will the Washington Post endorse candidates for county executive?
Last month, the Post’s editorial board was hit by defections in the wake of its failure to endorse a presidential candidate. Its former lead editorial writer for Maryland (Lee Hockstader) has been stationed in Europe for a few years now. Its board rarely bothers to write about our county anymore and it sat out this year’s school board elections for the first time in memory. If the Post decides not to endorse for county executive, it will have a big impact on the fortunes of those who run.
Yesterday, a Washington Post spokesperson sent me the following statement:
I’m reaching out from The Washington Post to follow up on your write up – we wanted to note, as mentioned in this reporting in The Post, “The Post plans to continue issuing endorsements in other races, including local contests.”
That statement was unsolicited.
The Post’s endorsement has traditionally been one of the most influential in MoCo politics, with only the Apple Ballot challenging its reach. It’s also unique in that it comes from an organization that does not lobby county leaders for money or policy priorities. Voters may heed it or not, but it often benefits candidates who do not cater to the mostly progressive interest groups who play in county politics.
If the Post follows through on its statement, that’s big news for those who are running for county executive and county council in 2026.