Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando (D - At-Large) announced this morning that he is ending his campaign for the Maryland U.S. Senate seat of Ben Cardin (D), who will retire in January 2025. In a statement released by his campaign, Jawando said that "after a lot of thought and prayer and late nights with my wife Michele, I’ve decided that it’s time to take a step back from the race. Not because we believe any less in the cause that started it. The fights we talked about in this campaign are and always will be the fights of my life. But after thinking long and hard about this race in particular, I frankly no longer see a path for myself to victory. And because I have so much respect for my loyal supporters, my constituents in Montgomery County, and my loving wife and children, I cannot remain in a race I do not believe I can win."
Jawando's exit is disappointing for progressive voters who supported his campaign. "I am sorry for those who will find this news disappointing – believe me, I am also disappointed," Jawando said. To his supporters, and the local and state-level elected officials who endorsed him, the councilman said, "I am so proud to have earned your support. I look forward to fighting alongside you each and every day. Thank you again to every supporter of my campaign, it truly means the world to me that you believed in me, my message, and our vision."
Barring a late entry by Congressman Jamie Raskin or another established progressive candidate, Jawando's exit is most likely to benefit Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. While many - including a few journalists - have questioned Alsobrooks' progressive bonafides based on her law enforcement record, she is still considered to stand to the left of her biggest rival, Congressman David Trone (D - 6th District). Police reform and transparency were niche issues for Jawando in the race, and those will likely fade into the background now that neither Trone nor Alsobrooks are likely to raise them going forward.
While Jawando is folding his Senate campaign, he assured supporters he won't be stepping away from politics. "I am not going anywhere!" he said. "I will continue serving the people of Maryland no matter what." Some observers have theorized that, should a referendum barring Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich (D) from seeking a third term appear on the 2024 ballot and pass, Jawando might be a candidate for that top County office in 2026. An open executive seat is likely to be pursued by Jawando, Councilmember Evan Glass (D - At-Large), and Councilmember Andrew Friedson (D - District 1), among other notable Democrats. As Jawando signed off in his statement today, "This is not the end – it is only the beginning."
"I am not going anywhere!" he said.
ReplyDeleteThings That Make Me Happy: #1
ReplyDeletePerhaps what happened to that Hagerstown judge will "finally" get people's attention and the decisions they make...
ReplyDelete@5:43, I hate to cloud the issue with facts, but that judge presided over a [civil court] custody hearing mere hours earlier at which he awarded sole custody of four children to the wife of the [middle-aged white] man who would go on to murder the judge several hours later. The killing had nothing to do with liberals/conservatives/MAGA/tree-huggers. The murder was an assassination, revenge for the judge's having ruled against the suspect in a divorce proceeding, and was altogether unrelated to any sort of political agenda or consequence of a soft-on-crime legislature. It was a civil proceeding, not criminal, that prompted Pedro Argote to murder the judge, and had zero to do with liberal or conservative politicians.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Very thorough recap by you, but I was merely trying to remain under the radar with my comment for Robert to approve so as to point out that perhaps one of jw's detractors of which there are many, just might commit the same type of act if so inclined. *NOT a threat, just an observation. Even a Walter Johnson "student" today was "packing" on his person today!
DeleteMaybe he senses the pendulum swinging back the other way.
ReplyDeletePendulum...? More like a Guillotine.
Delete5:43: What happened in Hagerstown?
ReplyDeleteLearning
Oh well, back to race baiting. Sticking to what you're good at.
ReplyDeleteGreat, can he resign from the Council too? MoCo would be better off.
ReplyDeleteI hope there will not be a need for grief counselors.
ReplyDelete"Oh well, back to race baiting. Sticking to what you're good at."
ReplyDeleteAnd fighting. Why is it the Left always are 'fighting' for their cause?
Because normal people don't want it, they fight, fight, fight. Their words, not mine.
On a sad note, are there NO Republicans considered worthy to run for the Senate seat? They have just given up on Maryland, and this is what you get, one party rule.
ReplyDeletePower corrupts, absolute power corrupts, absolutely.
Until Republicans realize they need to work for votes in places that, frankly, need conservative leadership, they will always be outside, and not even looking in. Pretty sad state of affairs, the 'opposition' Republicans. Weak, weak, weak.
I remember seeing quite a few yardsigns that said "Vote Democrat." Its a sad but ubiquitous philosophy that issues have no import, and alignment with the party is all one needs for decision making. I believe the Conservatives are far more prone to objective analysis.
Delete1:26: It is sad. Larry Hogan can take a chunk of the blame as !) he was the only potential GOP candidate who had an outside shot to win this seat, but chose to run for one he doesn't have a prayer to win instead, and 2) he never used his power as governor to grow the party or help other Republicans, only to boost himself. That said, disarray in the Maryland GOP, and failure to groom promising candidates identified at the county levels, predate Hogan's term as governor.
ReplyDeleteMaryland is dominated politically by the DC suburbs, MoCo and PG the home of the deep state, and Baltimore where most everyone is dependent on government handouts. The party of small government is just not an idea attractive to this demographic. That is why I voted with my feet and moved out. Hogan is probably the last RINO governor in MD for the forseeable future.
ReplyDelete122 you are correct. I have made that observation to myself many times.
ReplyDelete8:48 - this is a one-party county and essentially a one-party state. Keep voting this way and this is what you get. All candidates are simply rubber stamped and any other party running is completely destroyed. They don't have a snowball's chance in you know what.
ReplyDeleteAnd no amount of facts or logic will shift them from their dogmatic beliefs. I recently tried to point out to a Jewish friend that the Obama/Biden administrations deserve some of the blame for the recent Hamas attacks due to their appease Iran policy. And that most of the anti-semitism comes from the far left. She thought I was the idiot.
ReplyDeleteJawondo led the effort to pass (unanimously) the new Pedestrian Plan. This pie in the sky plan is pure fantasy. Here is a tidbit: “[This plan] … achieving racial equity and social justice, mitigating climate change, and improving economic mobility for all.”
ReplyDeleteGood grief!
They can't not say their virtue signaling buzzwords no matter the irrelevance.
ReplyDelete