Karla Silvestre declares victory in at-large Montgomery County Council primary

Karla Silvestre has declared victory Tuesday in the race for the remaining at-large seat on the 11-member Montgomery County Council.

Silvestre beat out 13 other Democrats to secure seat in the Democratic primary. In this deeply blue county, the winner of the Democratic primary typically wins November’s general election. One Republican, Sherwin Wells, will move forward to represent his party on the ballot.

Silvestre beat immigration lawyer Fatmata Barrie by less than one percentage point as of Tuesday evening.

Barrie did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday evening.

The three poised to win at-large seats — County Executive Marc Elrich, incumbent Laurie-Anne Sayles and Scott Goldberg — have held clear leads since shortly after polls closed on primary day, June 23.

“I ran because I believe Montgomery County can be a place where families can afford to stay, where our public schools are strong, where seniors can age with dignity, where small businesses can thrive, where communities feel safe and welcomed, and where every resident has a fair chance to build a good life,” Silvestre said in a press release Tuesday evening.

Silvestre immigrated from Guatemala when she was eight after “my father was blacklisted for organizing with Indigenous farmers,” according to her campaign website.

She was elected to the Board of Education in 2018 and has worked at Montgomery College as its director of community engagement since 2014.

As a council member, she said she will work to lower housing costs, protect immigrants and strengthen the school system.