George Leventhal Responds to MPW, Endorses Nancy Floreen

Council Member George Leventhal has corrected an allegation made by one of our sources and has also endorsed fellow at-large incumbent Nancy Floreen.

In our post on the at-large council race this morning, one of our sources predicted Leventhal would finish second and said:

The master gamesman. Recruited Wagner to try to shove Duchy out, got Floreen on board, then finagled Wagner the Apple at Floreen’s expense, giving him an excuse to throw Floreen under the bus. Brilliant. Sh*tty, but brilliant.

A point of context: every one of our sources predicted Leventhal would be re-elected. Your author predicted his re-election more than a year ago.

Leventhal left this comment on our post earlier today.

Dear Adam,

I appreciate the many nice things your spies said about me and my campaign, but I am disturbed that MPW would print an unsubstantiated and untrue allegation regarding my playing some role in MCEA's decision not to endorse Council President Nancy Floreen for the Apple Ballot. I have no influence in the MCEA endorsement process. Indeed, if I did, MCEA would have supported Nancy Floreen.

I am quite confident that Nancy Floreen will be re-elected to the County Council. She knows every corner of this county and has many friends in every precinct. She exhibited steady leadership at a time of great budgetary challenges. The budget the Council passed last month is better -- more humane, fairer, and more attuned to our people's needs -- than the proposal we received in March from the County Executive. All councilmembers deserve credit for that but certainly our presiding officer deserves credit. Nancy Floreen will have my vote on September 14 and I urge all county Democrats to give her their vote as well.

In fact, there is no evidence that Leventhal acted against Floreen's interest in the MCEA endorsement process. We have no reason to believe that he or any outside politician had any role in their decision not to support Floreen. However, with this public statement, Leventhal has gone on the record as a Floreen supporter in this year's election. Given many rumors of shifting alliances and possible upcoming exchanges of endorsements, that is a new and notable fact.