Montgomery County Council member Will Jawando has won the Democratic primary for county executive, defeating four other candidates with 40% of the vote.
Jawando, who was first elected to the council in 2018, was one of three council members competing to replace Marc Elrich as the Maryland county’s top elected official.
Jawando’s closest challenger, council member Andrew Friedson, conceded the race Sunday afternoon after amassing 34% of the vote. In a statement, Friedson said that after allowing the mail-in ballots to be counted, it became clear that there were not enough remaining votes to change the outcome.
Friedson added that he called Jawando to congratulate him and offered his support.
“We are all deeply invested in our County’s success, and that is all I have ever wanted for the only place I have ever called home: a community that is affordable, economically competitive, and guided by a government that truly works for the people it serves,” Friedson wrote.
After leading the primary days after the election, Jawando declared himself the winner on Friday. Speaking to reporters at the Silver Spring Civic Center, Jawando said he takes nothing for granted, noting the winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Esther Wells in November.
However, Jawando also said, “157 days from today, I will get sworn in on Dec. 1, and we’re going to need to make sure that we hit the ground running.”
When asked to name his three priorities, Jawando said schools: “That’s why people come here; it’s a big return on investment.”
He also said he would address housing.
“We need to make housing more affordable, and that means building more near transit, but also not doing developer giveaways for luxury housing,” Jawndo said.
Lastly, he said he’d prioritize “growing our economy from the bottom up, middle out.”
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