Leggett: Recession Muted Reaction To Development In Primary

County Executive Isiah Leggett (file photo)County Executive Isiah Leggett looks to be on his way to a third term after last week’s Democratic primary.

As to one reason for why turnout was so low in Montgomery County, the veteran of county politics put forward an interesting theory.

“In the past, we have been divided by two things in Montgomery County, by A. Education and B. Growth and development in the county,” Leggett told WAMU radio host Kojo Nnamdi during his show on Friday. “Growth and development really divided the county almost in half.

“So you had a great deal of interests coming as a result of that. With the recession, and many people feeling we need jobs and we need to grow, that issue has basically been taken off the table,” said Leggett, who was expanding on comments he made to the Washington Post about the low turnout.

All Council incumbents and Leggett comfortably won their Democratic primaries. Not all are seen as pro-growth. At-large Councilmember Marc Elrich, who has been the lone vote against major redevelopment in certain master plans, got the most at-large votes.

Elrich was the lone vote against the Chevy Chase Lake Sector Plan, passed in July 2013. The Takoma Park resident criticized the way the county evaluated traffic numbers and said the proposed development disregarded the views of existing homeowners.

Development and the Purple Line dominated the conversation during an at-large Council debate in Chevy Chase. Could it have been a reason why precincts in Chevy Chase saw slightly higher turnout numbers than the rest of the county?

Regardless, the 2014 primary didn’t feature anything like former Councilmember Blair Ewing’s slow-growth coalition of 2002, which matched up against then-County Executive Doug Duncan’s “End Gridlock” slate. In 2006, Leggett positioned himself as slow growth in his run for county executive, at least compared to opponent Steve Silverman.

This election cycle, the question of development wasn’t as prominent — at least in the county executive race.

“If you go back years before, every candidate had to address the issue of growth and development,” Leggett said Friday. “The recession basically eliminated that interest.”

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