Rain, sometimes heavy, doused Montgomery County voters on primary day.
Turnout, said David Naimon, president of the county’s election board, has been low.
“I don’t have a way of saying for sure that it’s caused by rain, but the weather doesn’t help, that’s for sure,“ he said. ”It’s definitely reasonably light and very few lines.“
One first-time voter said she has long felt her vote wouldn’t matter, especially as a Republican in Montgomery County, where 58% of voters are registered as Democrats. But that’s not how she felt on primary day.
“We are lucky to live in a place where our voices can be heard,” said Reese Udler, who voted at Bethesda’s Walt Whitman High School. “You shouldn’t throw away your vote.”
County voters in this deep-blue area — where many races are decided in the primary and not November’s general election — are likely choosing a new county executive, several new members of the County Council, school board members, circuit court judges and a sheriff.
Polls opened at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. If you have yet to figure out who you want to vote for, The Banner’s voter guide includes rundowns of the candidates in statewide and county races.
The race that’s getting the most attention — and money — in Montgomery County is for the county’s top executive. County Executive Marc Elrich has served two terms, the limit, and is running for an at-large council seat.
The front-runners in the race to replace him are three Democratic council members: Will Jawando, Andrew Friedson and Evan Glass. Polls from each of their campaigns show a close race.
The at-large race for council includes only one incumbent — Lori Ann Sayles — and 16 other candidates. All district races for the council — the county has seven districts — are competitive, except for Marilyn Balcombe’s District 7 seat.
Top issues in this spring’s campaign include the high cost of housing, the school board budget, ICE activity within the county and the possibility of a new data center at the Dickerson power plant site.
Many voters, including Kenny Sholes, a Poolesville resident who works in historic preservation, expressed concerns over data centers.
“You know if one data center is built, it’s the initial domino that falls, causing more expansion and more centers to be built,” Sholes said.
Some in Montgomery County — including those in Poolesville, Damascus and Clarksburg — also vote in the 6th congressional race, in which Rep. April McClain Delaney faces Rep. David Trone, who used to hold the seat.
Geraldine Smith, who was voting at Damascus High School, said that whatever the outcome of the congressional race, she hopes the new class of elected officials will work to bridge divides between Democrats and Republicans.
“I’d like to see things change to push toward inclusion of everybody, so that’s an important thing for me, since there’s been a lot of separation between parties and just people in general,” Smith said. “I just would like to see that come to an end.”
Naimon said the primary has run smoothly so far and that he has enough poll workers but can always use more. Interested in working the general election on Nov. 3? Naimon said to text “serve” plus your email address to 77788.
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