Some Montgomery County Council races are still too close to call

As county elections officials count outstanding ballots Saturday morning, some Montgomery County Council races are still extremely tight.

Although County Executive Marc Elrich, incumbent Laurie-Anne Sayles and Scott Goldberg maintain promising leads in the at large council race, it’s less clear who will secure the fourth spot on the Democratic ballot.

As of Friday, school board member Karla Silvestre and immigration attorney Fatmata Barrie were neck and neck, with less than a percentage point separating them. These two candidates are depending on the mail-in ballot count for victory.

And, in the District 3 race, Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman and Rockville City Council member Izola Shaw were separated by about 400 votes Friday.

Montgomery County Board of Elections President David Naimon said prior to the election that these wait times for results aren’t atypical. The board won’t certify the vote until July 6 at the earliest to allow all ballots in the mail system to arrive.

Election judges won’t begin processing provisional ballots until July 1. Naimon told The Banner he estimates 5,000 provisional ballots will need to be processed.

Even candidates who seem to have comfortable leads are waiting for more of the count to proceed before they declare victory. Goldberg, for example, told The Banner on Friday that he’s cautiously optimistic.

“There’s always one close race in Montgomery County that doesn’t get settled for a week or two, and it feels like I’m part of it this time,” he said.

Jawando declares victory before official call

Will Jawando declared victory in the county executive race Friday morning. Although he holds a substantial lead, the Associated Press has yet to call it.

“Outside groups spent millions trying to define us before we could speak for ourselves, and despite that, we are winning because we made this a positive campaign about a shared future together, and not the negative, misleading politics of the past,” Jawando said in a statement Friday.

At the time of his announcement, he held a six-point lead over District 1 Council member Andrew Friedson, who had not conceded.

At large council member Evan Glass conceded in a statement Wednesday. As of Friday, he had just under 22% of the vote.

“What we fought for — improving our schools, expanding housing opportunities, and protecting our most vulnerable neighbors — will not end with this one election,” Glass wrote in a statement posted to social media.

On WAMU’s “The Politics Hour” on Friday, Jawando attributed his victory to his progressivism.

“Progressive is making progress for working people,” Jawando said. “People are fed up with money being concentrated at the very top and their lives not getting better, even though they’re working harder.”

Mukunda ousts longtime majority leader King

Amar Mukunda, 33, has beaten longtime state Sen. Nancy King, 76, in the race to represent District 39, according to the Associated Press.

Mukunda, an Army Reserve combat engineer and former assistant director of the violence intervention group Roca, held a 12-point lead over King on Friday, according to state elections board results.

The District 39 upset will alter Montgomery County’s profile in the General Assembly, where King has served for more than two decades and held sway as Senate majority leader since 2020.

In a statement Friday, Mukunda said the race was not about him or King’s dedication.

“It was a movement of people willing to say the obvious: Our politics are stuck, the way we do things has to change, and Annapolis must deliver better results,” he said.