Heather Curtis
WMAL.com

WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Days after officially changing her party affiliation from Democrat to unaffiliated, Montgomery County Council Member Nancy Floreen has taken the next step to becoming a candidate for county executive. Wednesday she announced she will be circulating nominating petitions for county executive.

To get her name on the ballot, Floreen – who is now serving her fourth term as an at large member of the council – will need 1 percent of all registered voters in Montgomery County to sign nominating petitions by Aug. 6.

Monday the Montgomery County Board of Elections finished counting provisional and absentee ballots. Council Member Marc Elrich won the Democratic nomination for county executive, beating businessman David Blair by 80 votes.
Those results will be certified next Monday.

“The critical interests of Montgomery County families are ill-served when any candidate can prevail with barely 29 percent of the one-third of Democrats who turned out, the Republicans had no choice at all, and the county’s 150,000 independent voters were prevented by law from voting in either contest,” Floreen said in a statement.

Attorney Robin Ficker is the Republican nominee for the seat. He was the only Republican to enter the race.

Floreen believes many county voters have yet to be heard from and said in the statement she is determined to give the county a third, independent choice come November.

Here is the full statement Floreen released:

On July 2, I filed my intent to seek the office of Montgomery County Executive in the November general election as an independent. On July 9, I officially changed my party affiliation to “unaffiliated.”

Although the unofficial returns of the Democratic primary for County Executive are in, those results have not yet been certified by the Board of Elections. Given the tiny margin in unofficial returns, I am also aware that a recount of the ballots is likely.

Notwithstanding all this, I am today announcing that I will be circulating nominating petitions for the office of County Executive for the November general election beginning today.

I have been part of local government in Montgomery County for most of my career – as a member of the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission, as mayor of Garrett Park, and then as a member of the County Council for 16 years. In this county, local government has always been about listening to people’s problems and figuring out the most effective and most efficient ways to help them. It has never been a partisan process, and it has built a great county.

I am a candidate for County Executive – unexpectedly, I admit – because it would be a terrible loss for this county to fall into the sort of polarized posturing that has poisoned our national politics. That’s not my way. I want to get things done for all of us. We need to attract good jobs for our people, provide housing for everyone, and reinforce our tax base so we can continue to provide the services people need. That’s what I want to do. I hope the voters will help me work to do the things we need to do and leave the posturing to others.

The critical interests of Montgomery County families are ill-served when any candidate can prevail with barely 29 percent of the one-third of Democrats who turned out, the Republicans had no choice at all, and the county’s 150,000 independent voters were prevented by law from voting in either contest. There is no mandate here. Most county voters have yet to be heard from.

That is why I am determined to give Montgomery County a third, independent choice come November. I am heartened by the positive response this effort has already won. I call upon all Democrats, independents, and Republicans to say “no” to both flawed extremes, to think for themselves, and to put principle and pragmatism above purely party politics. Montgomery County deserves no less.

Copyright 2018 by WMAL.com. All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Nancy Floreen)