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One Month Out –

Dear Friends,
Election Day is only a month away.  Early voting starts on October 27^th and runs through November 3^rd.  Most of the races are not close or contested but there are several races that could result in upsets.  The main priority is electing a Democratic Governor, e.g. Wes Moore.  The past two cycles were disasters.  Hogan’s vetoes have delayed protections and rights for many Marylanders.  We can’t take a chance.  There needs to be a big turnout for Moore and every other democrat running up and down the ballot.  The race for comptroller is tightening and we need Brooke Lierman as our next Comptroller, especially since she will sit on the Board of Public Works. 
 
The county council, if we all turn out, could elect a majority of women for the first time.  Many of them are clearly progressives that we at Progressive Neighbors supported like Kristin Mink, Kate Stewart and Laurie-Ann Sayles.  Several others are progressive as well giving us a real shot at a progressive majority on the council who can work with Marc Elrich to enact a truly progressive agenda for the county. 
 
There are two other issues that need our attention:  school board races and ballot questions.  The school board races are non-partisan.  We supported Scott Joftus in the primary, who is running against Julie Yang, the MCEA endorsed candidate.  The real danger is the race for District 1 where Grace Rivera-Oven is running against Esther Wells.  Wells is an anti-vaxer who campaigns against “CRT” in schools, works for a non-profit that opposes homosexuality, and has been endorsed by the GOP and hate groups that vilify immigrants. It is critical that we not elect Wells to the school board. 
 
The other issue is the ballot questions.  While most of the ballot questions are relatively non-controversial (or very popular like Question 4 which would legalize cannabis in the state), one question raised our eyebrows.  County Question A would take the power to fire the county attorney away from the county executive and share that power with the county council.  The Democratic precinct officials voted last month to oppose this question but the MCDCC (county democratic party leaders) voted to stay neutral so the sample ballot takes no position on this question.  We hope you will vote No on Question A.
 
Yes, there are many races around the country that deserve your attention and support (door knocking, phone calls, postcards, donations).  But there are still important issues that need our attention locally.  Please get out to vote, get your neighbors out to vote and support progressive candidates up and down the ballot.

Scott Schneider