Maryland District 20 voters are thrilled to be sending Jamie Raskin, to Congress to take on the Trumpian forces of darkness. Raskin’s elevation leaves a senate vacancy that will be filled by a decision of the Montgomery Democratic Central Committee (MDCC) when they meet on Wednesday, December 7.
It is unfortunate that state law does not allow us to directly elect Raskin’s replacement: any appointment process is not exactly (small-d) democratic, but this is the process we’re stuck with. It seems to me that the most democratic solution would be to appoint someone who has already won D20 votes, namely one of our three elected state delegates. David Moon and Will Smith are actively campaigning for the seat (while Sheila Hixson has, unsurprisingly, decided to hold on to her chairmanship of the powerful Ways and Means Committee in the House of Delegates). Both Moon and Smith have had impressive records as freshmen delegates. Both are strong progressives and have worked well with Hixson and Raskin.
I am endorsing Moon for Senate mostly because I see him as a determined progressive fighter in Raskin’s tradition, while Smith is somewhat more of a go-along-to-get-along Democrat that is more common in the MD legislature. Also, I have been significantly more impressed with Moon’s responsiveness to and engagement with district residents than Smith’s. (Smith has made several appointments to meet with me and broken every single one at the last minute.)
I urge you to write now to all members of the MDCC immediately to indicate your endorsement. See below for more details.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the issues Moon has taken on:
- Special elections to fill statewide vacancies: Just as D20 voters are frustrated by the lack of a chance to vote on Raskin’s replacement, so would we be if there were vacancies for US Senate, Attorney General, Comptroller. Under law, the governor would have had the right to name replacements, but Moon successfully got the issue on this year’s ballot (as Question 1) and it passed easily, meaning future vacancies will be filled by voters.
- Helping homeless residents obtain birth certificates
- Reining in mass incarceration and generally opposing the disastrous “war on drugs”
- Early release of sick inmates
- Protecting women’s pay equity
- Reforming the investigative process in cases of police brutality
- Reducing carbon emissions
- Promoting transparency in rape investigations
- Working to welcome refugees in Maryland
- Fighting to maintain Metro service hours.
An argument has been floated that neither Moon, nor Smith should be appointed because it would give the selected individual incumbent power in the 2018 election. Those touting this position claim it would be more democratic to appoint someone for a two-year period who has not ever won an election in our district. I don’t buy it – as imperfect as the current system is, I believe the only way to respect voters is to select someone they have already supported.
If Moon or Smith is selected this week, that will open a D20 seat in the House of Delegates and the MDCC appointment process will start all over again. The following people should not be considered for that seat:
- Valerie Ervin quit her last public office (MoCo Council D5) two years early because her ambition and arrogance led her to believe she would be a shoo-in for the county executive race (Ike Leggett’s decision to run again in 2014 killed her plans). Then she dropped out of an abortive race against Raskin for Congress after only two months, with a bitter attack on a political process she felt was uniquely stacked against her. She blamed everyone but herself, while a healthy number of other candidates made it all the way to April. Ervin has a record of anger and divisiveness, including a willingness to attack local progressives. If Ervin were appointed to represent us, we could count on her spending most of her time in office figuring out how to move up the political ladder.
- Will Jawando has run twice for local seats (for state delegate in 2014 and against Raskin for Congress), losing badly each time. He has never done any on-the-ground work in our area and seems to think that his brief service as a White House staffer makes up for having no local record. I’d love to see Jawando work on something that benefits district residents before he tries again for political office.
- Jonathan Shurberg is a very capable local lawyer who has done a ton of work for progressive causes and individuals in need. Just the same, he must have set a record for dollars spent per vote in his unsuccessful race against Moon and Smith for delegate in 2014. I endorsed his run at that time, but he did so badly in the final result that any appointment to office would be in violation of district voters’ clear preferences. Most recently, Shurberg used his blog to attack Raskin’s candidacy for Congress, while carrying water for megabucks, pro-corporate Kathleen Matthews and David Trone.
Please write to all members of the MDCC to support David Moon and to oppose appointment of anyone who has not previously been elected in our district. You do not have to write an essay – simply stating your view is enough. Here’s the list to write to:
- General email address: montgomerydems@msn.com
- Members:
- deanderson47@verizon.net
- edlearth@aol.com
- wcohen@yahoo.com
- greene@gmail.com
- timwhitehouse@me.com
- erin@mcdcc.org
- chris@chris-bradbury.com
- bwolff2@verizon.net
- mgmagoo@aol.com
- vwvann@Comcast.net
- attorneygarcia@aol.com
- gruenberg@verizon.net
- julianhaffner@gmail.com
- Prutow@gmail.com
- legalrun@aol.com
- info@electaaronkaufman.com
- handddiamond@hotmail.com
- farrar@gmail.com
- mahoney@marylandnow.org
- DLKunes@gmail.com
- j.jenkins@gmail.com
- Jheanelle@Jheanellewilkins.com
- barre@gmail.com
- juan_miguel@verizon.net
- luarevalo03@gmail.com
- mimiCatZoo@yahoo.com
- m.hosey2012@gmail.com
- shetty@gmail.com
©2016 Keith Berner