More District 4 Tidbits

OK D4 junkies, it’s time for a few more bits.

1. Ten candidates
The Gazette has the full roster of candidates in the race. The Democrats are Nancy Navarro, Ben Kramer, Cary Lamari, Robert Goldman, Thomas Hardman and Michael Bigler. The Republicans are Robin Ficker, Lou August and Andrew Padula. The Green candidate, who will not have to face a primary, is George Gluck.

2. Early voting
Rich Madaleno’s (D-18) early voting bill is now on-line. It would allow voters in all special elections prior to June 30, 2009 to receive and submit absentee ballots at the county Board of Elections building on these days prior to the Tuesday vote: Wednesday through Friday, 8 AM to 8 PM; Saturday, 10 AM to 4:30 PM; and Sunday noon to 3 PM.

3. Kramer, Gordon and Lamari
When Montgomery County Civic Federation President Arnold Gordon was honored at the March 1 Greater Olney Civic Association awards, Ben Kramer presented the award. That did not stop Gordon from praising his predecessor as civic federation President – and Kramer rival – Cary Lamari with Kramer standing at his side. Ouch!


Ben Kramer (left) with Arnold Gordon at the GOCA Awards. Photo by Richard Turner.

4. Reed vs. Goldman
When Just Up the Pike author (and East County chronicler) Dan Reed called out attorney Robert Goldman’s use of a Bethesda address for his campaign, commenter “MD_Lawyer” replied:

For the record, Rob Goldman has lived in Burtonsville for some time. He only works in Bethesda. It seems reasonable to receive mail at a work address.

MD_Lawyer previously announced Goldman’s candidacy in our comments section.

So let’s see: we have a candidate who uses a Bethesda address, debates East County’s top blogger and uses an anonymous Google account. And you thought this race was interesting last year!

5. Alison Klumpp
Ever since Marilyn and Don Praisner’s daughter, Alison Klumpp, announced that she is not seeking her parents’ seat, political junkies have been speculating on whether she will endorse any candidates in the field. Her endorsement would be incredibly valuable to anyone. Mrs. Klumpp, if you do have a statement, please keep our blog in mind!

6. MCEA
We hear MCEA has begun candidate interviews. MCEA supported Nancy Navarro in last year’s special election, but they also supported Ben Kramer in his 1994 and 1998 County Council races. They did not support Kramer in his 2006 race for Delegate.

7. Gillogly vs. Greater Greater Washington
Last week, Greater Greater Washington, a transit-focused blog based in D.C., wrote a post called, “Who’s Our Candidate for Montgomery District 4?” The original version of the post read like an endorsement for Nancy Navarro, but the DuPont Circle-based author quickly rewrote it in more neutral language. That did not stop Montgomery Democratic super-activist (and District 4 resident) Kevin Gillogly from pouncing. Kevin pointed out that GGW had done no prior reporting on the D4 race and questioned why an out-of-state blog would do endorsements in local Montgomery races.

I’ll make GGW a deal: I won’t be foolish enough to endorse any D.C. candidates (even though I lived there for nine years) if you don’t endorse any Maryland candidates. As a bonus, Kevin won’t go back to your blog. Deal?

8. Facebook
Two candidates have Facebook support pages: Nancy Navarro (with 140 members) and Cary Lamari (with 56 members). Thank heavens that our state legislators can now access them.

9. First Debate Scheduled
The Montgomery County Young Democrats have announced the first D4 candidates’ debate. It is scheduled for Wednesday, April 1, 7-9 PM at the AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Road in Silver Spring. They issued this statement:

Have you ever wanted a politician to answer YOUR questions? Now's your chance!

The Montgomery County Young Democrats are sponsoring a town hall debate of the Democratic candidates in the District 4 Special Election using questions submitted by the audience. You can even ask them yourself if you'd like.

It's your $4 billion... you should know the person we're choosing to spend it.

Please submit questions to District4Debate@gmail.com and indicate if you'd like to ask the question yourself and if you'd like the question to be directed at any specific candidate.

Doors open at 7pm & the debate starts at 7:30.

Are bloggers allowed in? We hope so!

Any tips, bits, juice, gripes or gossip? Send them to me for our next installment!