Weeks before primary, election board launches inquiry into Jawando campaign

The Maryland Board of Elections is investigating a complaint alleging that Will Jawando’s campaign for Montgomery County executive violated campaign finance laws by coordinating with the Working Families Party PAC, a Brooklyn-based progressive group that backed New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

As a registered independent expenditure committee, the PAC is prohibited by law from coordinating directly with candidates but can spend unlimited sums supporting or opposing them.

Jawando’s campaign manager David Kunes strongly rejected the allegations in the complaint and said its timing, close to the start of early voting on June 11 and the primary on June 23, is “in bad faith.”

“There has been no coordination of any kind with WFP’s independent expenditure in this race, full stop,” Kunes wrote in a statement.

Jawando, he added, “refuses to take money from the developers and corporate interests trying to buy this election, and a baseless complaint just days before early voting is just the latest chapter in their effort to stop him.”

The Working Families Party also denied coordination.

It is unclear who filed the complaint. Lexy Rhoden, a spokesperson for the election board, told The Banner in an email Wednesday that it was filed anonymously.

Jawando, an at-large member of the council, is locked in a tight and at times acrimonious race for county executive with two other Democratic council members — Evan Glass, at-large member, and Andrew Friedson, of District 1.

The three front-runners have feuded over campaign finances for months. Representatives for Glass and Friedson both told The Banner that they are not responsible for the complaint.

Kunes said the Jawando campaign is preparing a response to the board this week.

The elections board sent a letter to Jawando’s campaign on June 4, outlining the complaint’s allegations: that Jawando’s U.S. Senate campaign contributed $115,000 across two donations in March and April 2025 to the Working Families Party PAC, and the PAC, a little more than a year later, spent $72,159 to support his county executive campaign.

Since then, the PAC has given more to Jawando.

As of Wednesday, the Working Families Party PAC had spent a total of $87,996 on Jawando, including an expenditure made the day the Board of Elections letter was sent to the campaign, according to campaign finance records.

The complaint alleges that the PAC’s spending was not truly independent because Jawando had donated to the group the year before. According to campaign finance records reviewed by The Banner, Jawando is Maryland’s biggest contributor to the Working Families Party.

The elections board asked Jawando’s campaign to submit a written explanation by July 4 demonstrating that no violation has occurred, according to the letter. This deadline falls 11 days after the June 23 primary.

A heated race

Vidal Hines, senior political director of the Working Families Party, told The Banner Tuesday that the organization was blindsided by the complaint. He said Jawando’s March 2025 contribution came from the candidate’s campaign fund for his short-lived 2024 U.S. Senate run after it concluded. The Working Families Party endorsed Jawando for county executive in September 2025.

“We are in complete compliance with all state and federal election laws,” Hines said.

Kunes described Jawando’s contribution to the WFP as “a federal-to-federal transaction made over a year ago to support the Working Families Party’s efforts to elect federal candidates who fight for working people and stand up to corporate power.”

In addition to housing, development and taxes, campaign finance is a key issue in the county executive campaign. Friedson, relying on traditional fundraising methods, raised more than $1 million more than either Jawando or Glass, both of whom are using public campaign financing. Jawando and Glass have criticized Friedson for accepting corporate funding, particularly from developers.

Hines said he believes the complaint was filed as a targeted political move, but doesn’t know who is responsible.

Working Families Party

With less than two weeks until the June 23 election, no outside group has spent more in Maryland this year than the Working Families Party PAC. The committee has focused on downballot local races, where it can outspend smaller campaign budgets and wield outsized influence.

The Working Families Party champions a progressive economic agenda that includes universal healthcare, paid family and medical leave, a national jobs program and higher taxes on the rich. On criminal justice, it advocates for prevention and diversion initiatives over more punitive strategies.

The political action committee has dropped $1.1 million in recent weeks on mailers and commercials supporting Sarah David, a candidate for Baltimore County state’s attorney, who is attempting to unseat 19-year incumbent Scott Shellenberger as the county’s top prosecutor, campaign finance records show as of Wednesday.

In the last week, it also spent $131,157 on behalf of Wanika Fisher, a state’s attorney candidate in Prince George’s County.

In Montgomery County, the organization has also endorsed Izola Shaw for County Council District 3 and Josie Caballero for an at-large council seat.

For Jawando, the PAC has spent its money primarily on mailers, phone banking and online ads endorsing his campaign.

Hines said that Jawando was endorsed following a lengthy process that included interviews and questionnaires with multiple panels.

“There’s a system here,” Hines said. “It wasn’t just an arbitrary decision.”