Riemer’s Rooters Revealed

County Council at-large candidate Hans Riemer has announced his campaign kickoff rally, which is scheduled for this Saturday at 1430 Fenwick Lane in Downtown Silver Spring at 3 PM. In the announcement, he released a list of 90 supporters including five elected officials and over one-third of the county’s Democratic Central Committee. We run the announcement below and follow with a comment.

You are Cordially Invited to the Hans Riemer for Montgomery Council (At-Large) Campaign Kickoff Rally
Saturday, February 20th at 3:00 pm

Location: 1430 Fenwick Lane, Silver Spring, MD 20910
(5 mins walk from Silver Spring metro)

Master of Ceremonies:
Delegate Heather Mizeur, Takoma Park, District 20

Featured Speakers:
Councilmember Valerie Ervin, Silver Spring, District 5
Councilmember Nancy Navarro, Colesville, District 4

Special Remarks By:
Senator Jamie Raskin, Takoma Park, District 20
Delegate Kirill Reznik, Germantown, District 39


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Event Hosts (in formation):
Please Note: Organizational affiliations are listed for identification purposes only and do not imply an endorsement from the organization.
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Hon. Darrell Anderson, Mayor, Washington Grove
Hon. Josh Wright, Takoma Park City Council
Timothy Hwang, Gaithersburg / Student Member of Board of Education

Hon. Elly Shaw-Belblidia, Germantown / Montgomery County Democratic Party leader
Hon. Shirley Rivadaneira, Germantown / Mongtomery County Democratic Party leader
Hon. Aruna Miller, Darnestown / Mongtomery County Democratic Party leader
Hon. Dan Adcock, Silver Spring / Montgomery County Democratic Party leader
Hon. Karla Walker, Silver Spring / Mongtomery County Democratic Party leader
Hon. Marc Korman, Bethesda / Mongtomery County Democratic Party leader
Hon. Beth Siniawsky, Takoma Park/ Montgomery County Democratic Party leader

Oscar Ramirez (Riemer Campaign Chair), Silver Spring / former-MCDCC member
Karen Czapanskiy (Riemer Campaign Treasurer), Takoma Park / former-MCDCC member

Casey Anderson, Silver Spring / Bike Advocate
Miti Figueredo, Silver Spring (Woodmoor) / Chief of Staff to Councilmember Nancy Navarro
Adam Yalowitz, Silver Spring / former Valerie Ervin Field Director
Alice Wilkerson, Silver Spring / Chief of Staff, Senator Jamie Raskin
Kevin Walling, Baltimore / LGBT Advocate
Patrick Metz, DC / former-Heather Mizeur Chief of Staff
Deborah Mizeur, Takoma Park
Jen Kramer, Germantown / Democratic Activist
Tufail Ahmad, Potomac / 2006 At-Large Council Candidate
Jayson Williams, Baltimore / Union Organizer
Jackie Lichter, Burtonsville / former SEIU Local 500 Political Director
Dan Hoffman, North Bethesda (White Flint) / Civic Activist
Carol Oberdorfer, Dickerson / Community & Agricultural Reserve Advocate
Dallas Lipp & Lori Plazinski, Gaithersburg / former Montgomery County for Obama leaders
Miriam Schoenbaum, Boyds / MARC & Transit Advocate
Lynn & Michael Novelli, Gaithersburg / former MD for Obama Director
Mike Hersh, Wheaton / Progressive Activist
Michael Benefiel, Kensington / Democratic Activist
Ralph Bennett, Silver Spring / former Chair, Housing Opportunities Commission
Roxanna Olivas, Bethesda / Hispanic Democratic & Small Business Advocate
Rebecca Jaramillo, Bethesda
Minh-ngoc Le, Chevy Chase / former MD Obama Organizer
Quon Kwan, Rockville / Transit & Bike Advocate
Ashwani Jain, Potomac / former Maryland Students for Obama Organizer
Neal Carter, Colesville / former President, Montgomery College Democrats
Lawrence Jacobs & Steve Snapp, Rockville / LGBT Activists
Marlana Valdez, Takoma Park / former Raskin Campaign Chair
David Guhl, Poolesville / Democratic Activist
Michael Buckley, Silver Spring / former Maryland Obama Delegate & Organizer
Cavan Wilk, Wheaton / Transit & Community Activist
Eric Robbins, Silver Spring / Community Activist & Blogger
Ken Silverman, Bethesda / former Nancy Navarro Field Director
Tom Manatos, Bethesda / Democratic Activist
Jonathan Sachs, Silver Spring / former UMD College Park Democrats President
Ethan Susseles, Bethesda / former Deputy Maryland High School Coordinator, Obama for America
Adam Scholl, Bethesda / former National High School Coordinator, Obama for America
Kathy Jentz, Silver Spring / Transit & Community Activist
Don, Tina & Jessie Slater, Silver Spring / Transit Advocates
Barbara & Eric Doran, Silver Spring; Maia Estes, former Obama Bethesda Leader
Jeff & Richelle Meer, Silver Spring
Jim Clarke, Rockville / Bike and Transit Advocate
Marian Fryer, Wheaton / Community Leader
John Carroll, Silver Spring / Transit Advocate
Paula Kowalczuk, Takoma Park / Democratic Activist
Eleanor Rice, Bethesda / Purple Line Advocate
Kenann & Corey Thompson, Takoma Park
Brett Heimov, Silver Spring (Woodmoor) / Democratic Activist
Wayne Phyillaier, Silver Spring / Bike Advocate & Blogger
Peter Gray, Silver Spring / Bike and Capital Crescent Trail Advocate
Carl Henn, Rockville / Transit Advocate
Jon & Julie Garcia, Bethesda (Burning Tree)
Sarah Lynch & Kris Wernsted / former Montgomery County for Obama Organizers
Jack Cochrane, Bethesda (Bells Mill) / Bike Advocate
Seth Grimes, Takoma Park / former Takoma Park Mayoral Candidate
Rosie Engman, Silver Spring
Michael Vaughan, Takoma Park / Democratic Organizer
Kathy Stevens, Silver Spring / Community Leader
Lew Winarsky, Silver Spring
Jonathan Prutow, White Flint / former Montgomery Obama Organizer
Pam Larson & Art Isaacs, Takoma Park / Community Activists
Cindy Terrell, Takoma Park / Progressive & Community Activist
Libi Sprow, Silver Spring.
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See you at the rally!

Hans Riemer
Montgomery County Democrat

P.S. Please email me at hans@hansriemer.com if you're interested in joining the supporters/host committee for the kickoff rally.

By Authority: Friends of Hans Riemer. Oscar Ramirez, Chair; Karen Czapanskiy, Treasurer.

Our Take:

Riemer’s list is exceptional for a challenger’s first release. Its composition reflects his strength among five key groups: smart growth and bicycle advocates, Silver Spring residents, young people, Obama supporters and progressives. Riemer is a natural favorite of all of these groups as he is an East Silver Spring resident, a board member of Action Committee for Transit and the former youth coordinator of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. One additional strength Riemer possesses that is not yet reflected in his list is his current employment by AARP and his role in opposing President George W. Bush’s social security privatization proposal. Those characteristics should play well in the county’s large and influential senior community.

The presence of County Council Member Valerie Ervin on Riemer’s list is especially notable. Ervin defeated Riemer by 24 points in the 2006 District 5 open seat primary. So why is she endorsing her former opponent right out of the gate? First, the two had few if any policy differences in 2006. Both ran as pro-job, smart growth candidates who embraced diversity and young people. Ervin’s institutional support and long record of community service gave her the victory. But from a policy perspective, the two are natural allies. Second, shortly after Ervin won the primary, she began reaching out to Riemer and his supporters (one of whom was your author) in an effort to generate a fresh start for her first term in office. Riemer’s supporters were won over by Ervin and especially her constituent service operation led by Chief of Staff Sonya Healy. Within a year, almost all of Riemer’s people became Ervin backers. So there is no lingering ill will from the last election. In fact, the table is set for cooperation between Ervin, Riemer and like-minded advocates. And just as with Nancy Navarro’s election in District 4 last year, if Riemer wins, Ervin will be seen as the power player who helped him get over the top. Navarro herself, who is also endorsing Riemer, will get a share of the credit too.

Finally, the list does not include one fact that deserves mention: Riemer’s campaign manager is former Navarro and Raskin manager David Moon. Moon is a cunning and methodical operative who finished first in our Young Guns poll last year and is thought by many to be the county’s best political consultant. Moon has strong connections to smart growth, environmental and progressive groups – all of whom will be part of Riemer’s coalition. Riemer outraised Ervin in 2006 and has more nationwide fundraising connections now because of his work for Obama, so his campaign will be professionally run and adequately financed.

Riemer is starting to suck up some of the oxygen from the other at-large challengers, but all four incumbents are running for re-election. The big question is which, if any, incumbents will see their voters peel away to Riemer. We’ll be watching.