By Adam Pagnucco.
Last night, Council Member Will Jawando held his campaign kickoff event for county executive. Jawando joins Council Member Evan Glass and Celeste Aroha in the race.
Jawando’s campaign home page.
County Executive Marc Elrich and Council Members Kristin Mink and Laurie-Anne Sayles appeared at the event. If I can obtain a transcript of Elrich’s remarks, I will follow up.
Elrich and Jawando. From Jawando’s Instagram account.
Like Glass, Jawando is using the county’s public campaign financing system to run. Along with Glass and Council Member Andrew Friedson, my sources see Jawando as one of the three most likely people to win this race. A poll by Greater Greater Washington in September and October found a wide-open race, with 61% of voters undecided and Jawando, Glass, Friedson and Council Member Kate Stewart (who has not announced her intentions) statistically tied.
I will have plenty to say about this race in the future, but for now, here is Jawando’s campaign statement from his website.
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Our county is facing difficult times.
A few miles away, a wannabe dictator has illegally fired our neighbors, attacked our public schools, and endangered the safety of our immigrant communities.
Now, his tariffs are making the rising cost of living and housing even worse, while his reckless slashes to government funding and partisan attacks on liberal-leaning communities leave us without many of the resources our tax dollars are supposed to pay for.
But I believe our community can be a light in these challenging times. We have an opportunity to reject divisiveness and show Donald Trump, and the country, what compassionate leadership looks like.
We are at a turning point — and this moment demands bold and courageous leadership. That’s why I’m running for County Executive.
My name is Will Yemi Jawando. I was born right here in Montgomery County — not by luck, but by design. My mother, a white woman from Kansas, fell in love with my father, a Nigerian immigrant, and they set out to find a community that would reflect and accept their love.
Growing up in Maryland, it was clear there were the “haves” and “have-nots,” — and I saw it wasn’t determined by how hard you worked.
When I got a scholarship for a private high school, I was propelled forward, while many of my childhood friends from the basketball courts fell into a different life. One of them was my best friend from fifth grade – Kalfani. He was a born leader, and he took me under his wing. We all agreed he was headed straight to the NBA. I got the call freshman year that Kalfani had been shot and killed. I’ve constantly thought about what his life could have and should have been.
Kalfani’s death was a major reason I dedicated my life to public service. That journey took me to Catholic University, where I founded our NAACP chapter, then to the White House working as a Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama. Finally, it brought me back home, where my neighbors elected me to the Montgomery County Council.
When I was elected in 2018, I immediately got to work: fighting for the underdogs, championing workers’ rights, and working to fully fund our public schools. On the County Council, I’ve passed legislation to cap rental increases, prioritized our community over big developers in housing decisions, supported small businesses, and successfully advocated for expanded education and human services funding.
I’m still trying to build the Montgomery that my parents sought, and that so many of our ancestors did: an affordable, inclusive community with opportunities for us all to succeed. I still believe in that Montgomery Promise, but I need your help to create it. Are you with me?
Yours in service,
Will Jawando