Becky Wagner Announces First Fundraiser

At-large County Council challenger Becky Wagner has selected a campaign manager and announced a fundraiser. These are the first steps in a widely anticipated run for public office.

Wagner has been the Executive Director of Interfaith Works, a non-profit providing services to the homeless, for more than ten years. She attracted rave reviews from most of our informants in our Whispers of the At-Large Race series last summer but has shown little activity since then. But then this email was blasted earlier this week:

From: Edward Cooper
Sent: Monday, November 16, 2009 8:39 PM
To: friendsofbeckywagner@gmail.com
Subject:

Dear Friends,

I’d like to invite you to join me at a fundraiser for Becky Wagner as she launches her candidacy for Montgomery County Council. The event will take place on Thursday, December 3rd at Imagination Stage – 4908 Auburn Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland – from 6:00pm until 8:00pm. Attached is an invitation (PDF) with all of the details.

Many of you may know Becky Wagner from her leading role in helping Montgomery County’s citizens for over 25 years. As a community leader she is authentic, pragmatic and decisive. In her role as executive director of Interfaith Works (formerly Community Ministries of Montgomery County), Becky has grown the organization into a professionally managed non-profit with strong ties to the faith, business and social service communities. She knows, first-hand, what it takes to operate a business and make payroll every two weeks. She served the residents of Montgomery County as a key staffer to Sen. Paul Sarbanes, helped to lead a large trade organization and advocated for the needy as the founding director of Rainbow Shelter, Montgomery County’s first shelter for homeless women. She’s what we need on the Montgomery County Council – a person of integrity and civility who uses her collaborative skills to pull people together and get things accomplished. And don’t just take my word for it, plenty of people are fans of Becky…Washingtonian knows of her great abilities and skills; the magazine named her Washingtonian of the Year in 2008.

I am such a fan of Becky’s that I have signed on to help her manage her campaign.

Please come out and join me on December 3rd in support of Becky Wagner. She is eager to hear about what matters to Montgomery County residents and find ways to make your county government work for you.

For more information about the fundraiser, or Becky’s campaign, please e-mail friendsofbeckywagner@gmail.com or call 301.654.9342. I encourage you to forward this e-mail message on to anyone you know who would like to see positive change come to Montgomery County.

Best Regards,
Edward Cooper

Friends of Becky Wagner
119 Forest Avenue
Rockville, Maryland 20850

The email was accompanied by this solicitation:


The Democratic primary is less than ten months away and the incumbents have been gearing up. George Leventhal and Nancy Floreen have each held several fundraisers this cycle. Marc Elrich has scheduled two in the last couple months. Duchy Trachtenberg has a new website. Challenger Jane De Winter also has a website and has been campaigning since last summer. Wagner has some catching up to do. But the gun has fired and she is off the blocks.