2024 Primary Election Endorsements:
Every two years since 2006, Progressive Neighbors has made endorsements in local races before the primary election. While the Democratic Party takes a hands-off attitude and doesn’t want to place a finger on the scale favoring one candidate over another, PN believes that all Democrats are not alike. In the past, southern Democrats filibustered against voting rights. Other Democrats like Joe Manchin and the late Joe Lieberman consistently voted against progress on issues like climate change. In most Maryland districts, winning in the primary is tantamount to winning the General election. So, we have put our energies into picking better, more progressive candidates in the primary.
This year, the US Senate seat cannot be considered safe for the Democrats, with popular former governor, Larry Hogan as the likely Republican nominee. Congressional District 6 (CD6) is another swing seat, with the district consisting of nearly equal shares of Democratic and Republican voters. Both the Senate and the House of Representatives will be hanging in the balance this fall, and all eyes will be on Maryland.
This election year is unique in that we have an open Senate seat and three open Congressional seats, making it a real change election. As in previous years, we sent out questionnaires after the filing deadline to all the candidates in the targeted races. We sent out about 65 questionnaires and received about 30 responses. In addition, we attended numerous forums for the Senate and CD6 races, met with some of the candidates and reviewed other questionnaires, candidate websites, and endorsements.
Some of these races had several excellent candidates and it was difficult to decide on endorsements. While there was no single metric that we used to select candidates, diversity was one consideration: having our representatives look more like the residents of Maryland. We hope these endorsements help elect more progressives to office that will make a difference, just as our endorsement many years ago of Jamie Raskin for State Senate and later Congress has had such an impact.
US Senate: Angela Alsobrooks
Progressive Neighbors is proud to endorse Angela Alsobrooks for Senate in the May 14th Democratic Primary.
Senate seats are rarely open. This year Senator Ben Cardin announced his retirement and the race to fill the seat began, attracting nine Democrats. Four of them filled out our questionnaire. Clearly, the leading candidates are Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and Congressman David Trone.
Both candidates provided positive, progressive answers to our questionnaire and would make excellent candidates in the November General Election, where they will almost certainly face Hogan. We also attended several virtual forums and paid close attention to endorsements. The primary factor overriding everything else in this race is who can beat Hogan. If Hogan were to win, the Senate would likely flip to the Republicans, threatening nearly all of Joe Biden’s second-term agenda.
Trone’s enormous wealth would enable him to run a strong fall campaign. Meanwhile, Alsobrooks has the backing of much of the Democratic Party and would likely benefit from the strong endorsements of Senator Chris Van Hollen, Congressman Jamie Raskin, and Governor Wes Moore. Her presence on the ballot would also likely motivate turnout by African Americans and women. We have concluded that both candidates would be well positioned to beat Hogan.
We decided to endorse Angela Alsobrooks, trusting the judgment of leaders like Van Hollen, Raskin, and Moore and also because of the precedent-breaking nature of her candidacy. Maryland currently has an all-male Congressional delegation and while two of our representatives are African American, we have never had an African-American woman represent us in the Senate (we have only ever had one African-American Representative, and one woman Senator). Alsobrooks would also be only be the third African-American woman ever to be elected as Senator. She has strong credentials and progressive positions, as well as a strong base in Prince George’s County. Hogan can be beat and Alsobrooks will be the one to do it. For all these reasons, Progressive Neighbors is endorsing Angela Alsobrooks for Senate in the May 14th Democratic Primary.
Congress:
District 2: No Endorsement
The retirement of Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger makes CD2 an open seat. This District, encompassing much of Baltimore County, attracted seven Democratic candidates. We only received 3 questionnaires back and did not get one from the leading candidate in the race, Johnny Olszewski Jr. From our view the race does not look competitive: Olszewski appears to be the likely nominee. Because we received so few questionnaires and did not get one from Olszewski, we have decided to not make an endorsement in this race.
District 3: Clarence Lam
Progressive Neighbors is proud to endorse Clarence Lam for Congress in CD3. This District opened up with the retirement of Congressman John Sarbanes. The district goes from Anne Arundel County west to Howard County, just north of Montgomery County. The race attracted 22 Democratic candidates. We received nine questionnaires.
While we received questionnaires from several major candidates, we did not get questionnaires back from all the major candidates (e.g., Sarah Elfreth and Harry Dunn). Dr. Lam has been a state legislator since 2014, first in the House and then later elected to the State Senate. He is a physician who works at the Hopkins Occupational Health Clinic and is the only physician in the State legislature. He has a long list of accomplishments from his 10 years in the legislature. He would also be the first Asian-American Congressman from Maryland.
District 6: Tekesha Martinez
Progressive Neighbors is proud to endorse Tekesha Martinez for CD6, which covers all of Western Maryland, and parts or all of five counties. This seat was vacated when Congressman Trone decided to run for Senate. Martinez, the first Black mayor of Hagerstown, was born and raised there under difficult circumstances. This background gives her direct understanding of those she would serve as Representative. Her election would bring needed diversity to Maryland’s Congressional delegation.
Another leading candidate in this 14-person race is April McClain Delaney, who resides outside the district and whose massive funding comes nearly entirely from outside of the district. Her website is mostly devoid of policy positions. State Delegate Joe Vogel, presents a generally progressive agenda, except that he opposes Medicare for All and supports sending arms to Israel.
Martinez’s progressive platform includes substantive details for “a women’s agenda,” strengthening unions, Medicare for All, racial justice, community-centered development. and fighting climate change. Martinez, is equipped to win this Congressional seat in November, having proven her ability to fundraise in small batches, with $322,000 in contributions that average only about $22 each. We received five questionnaire responses in this race, including one from Martinez.
District 8: Jamie Raskin
Congressman Jamie Raskin is the model progressive Congressman whom everyone looks up to and emulates. His work in Congress has been exemplary. His competence is unparalleled. He has gained the trust of leadership because he works hard, speaks truth to power and rises to the challenge posed by right-wing Republicans. We have supported him since his first run for the State Senate and continue to be one of his strongest supporters. He gives us hope that change is possible, progress is possible and we can win elections despite daunting odds and floods of campaign money.
School Board:
Every election cycle, the question we get the most is “whom should we vote for in the School Board races?” Because these races are nonpartisan, the Democratic Party declines to weigh in. Yet the Montgomery County Schools takes up about half of the county budget (over $3 billion for MCPS). Therefore, who gets on the school board matters.
Recent controversies and the firing of the superintendent, indicate a clear need for change. MCEA, the school system’s teachers union, has decided not to endorse any of the incumbents in this year’s races. We sent out questionnaires to all 14 candidates for all three races (even though the races are labeled by District and At-Large, all voters get to vote in every race) and received 8 responses. In addition to our questionnaires, we reviewed the questionnaire responses to Adam Pagnucco’s questions on his website, Montgomery Perspective.
At-Large: Rita Montoya
Progressive Neighbors is proud to endorse Rita Montoya for School Board At-Large. The At-Large race has six candidates. We received questionnaire responses from three of the candidates, which can be accessed here. Both leading candidates (Lynne Harris, the incumbent, and Rita Montoya, who was endorsed by the MCEA) responded to our questionnaire. We were most impressed by Montoya’s responses, which emphasized transparency, accountability, and responsiveness: the exact qualities that we think are needed to improve the performance of the School Board. Montoya is a strong progressive who rose from a challenging background to become a juvenile public defender and later an advisor to small businesses and nonprofits. She is the mom of two young children enrolled in MCPS and leads an elementary school PTA. She is committed to promoting the need for healthy nutrition in schools.
District 2: Natalie Zimmerman
Progressive Neighbors is proud to endorse Natalie Zimmerman for this seat. District 2 has five candidates running. We received questionnaires from three of the candidates, which can be accessed here. Both of the leading candidates (Rebecca Smondrowski, the incumbent, and Natalie Zimmerman, who was endorsed by MCEA) responded to our questionnaire. Of these two front runners, we were more impressed by Zimmerman’s responses. Natalie is an elementary school teacher who has been a strong advocate for students.
District 4: Laura Stewart
Progressive Neighbors is proud to endorse Laura Stewart for Board of Education in District 4. In District 4, there are three candidates: Shebra Evans (the incumbent), Bethany Mandel (a right-wing critic of “woke” education) and Laura Stewart, who was endorsed by MCEA. Responses to our questionnaire from Evans and Stewart can be accessed here. Based on our questionnaires and knowledge of these candidates we have decided to endorse Laura Stewart. She has a long history of activism to improve Montgomery County Schools and will come to the Board with a deep knowledge and a commitment to improving the system and helping kids succeed.
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