By Adam Pagnucco.
Last week, two well-known candidates created campaign committees to run for county council district seats. I expect both of them to be serious contenders with real chances to win.
Debbie Spielberg, Council District 1
Spielberg is a long-time Silver Spring resident who recently moved to Bethesda and is running in Council District 1. The seat is being vacated by incumbent Andrew Friedson, who is running for executive. She is currently County Executive Marc Elrich’s special assistant and was on his legislative staff when he was a council member. When Elrich first became executive, Maryland Matters wrote that Spielberg was in his inner circle and noted that she “has Capitol Hill experience, including working for U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights icon.” In my experience, few people, if any, are closer to Elrich than Spielberg.
Spielberg’s chair is long-time civic activist Amanda Farber and her treasurer is Town of Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin. Both are known players in the district. She is using public financing. Spielberg joins Board of Education Member Julie Yang and Maryland Department of Transportation official Drew Morrison in the race. I am looking forward to writing about this contest because the three of them will offer substantively different choices for voters.
Izola Shaw, Council District 3
Shaw is a first-term Rockville city council member. In 2023, she finished third in a twelve-person field for six seats. Shaw’s city council campaign site lists her 2023 endorsements as including CASA in Action, Greater Greater Washington, Progressive Maryland, Council Members Will Jawando and Kate Stewart and several other local officials and activists. Her city biography states that she “currently leads health community engagement and communications projects for the National Institutes of Health.” On the city council, she is known as the foremost champion of rent control and has tried hard – although so far unsuccessfully – to persuade her colleagues to adopt it.
District 3 includes the municipalities of Rockville and Gaithersburg. It has several municipal officials and state legislators who would be strong contenders for the council seat, which is being vacated by term-limited incumbent Sidney Katz. Like Spielberg, Shaw is using public campaign financing. As with District 1, I expect other serious candidates to get in and offer meaningful choices to voters.
When these candidates send me formal announcements, I will print them. On to the elections!