Montgomery County, Maryland — the land of top-tier public schools (that used to be better), gorgeous parks, bloated budgets, and a County Council that treats taxpayer money like Monopoly cash. Every election cycle, we hear the same recycled promises: “affordable housing,” “equity,” “climate action,” and “supporting small businesses.” Translation? Higher taxes, more regulation, and another business closure in your neighborhood strip mall.
Now that the 2026 race for County Executive is officially heating up, it’s time to meet your lineup of Democratic contenders — and if you’re a homeowner, a business owner, or anyone with a pulse and a property tax bill, you might want to start budgeting for another round of wallet-busting policies.
Let’s look at each of the declared and potential Democratic candidates and how each one poses a clear and present danger to fiscal sanity in Montgomery County.
🚨 Will Jawando – Elrich 2.0 with Better Optics
Councilmember Will Jawando wants to be the next County Executive. And if you thought Marc Elrich was bad, buckle up — because Jawando comes with all of Elrich’s worst ideas and then some.
Jawando’s top priorities include rent stabilization (read: rent control), “affordable housing” schemes that disincentivize development, and more taxpayer-funded “equity” offices. He’s been a reliable vote for every tax increase proposed by the Council since 2018, including the historic property tax hike in 2023 that blindsided residents by raising rates by over 10% in some neighborhoods.[1]
His campaign is proudly endorsed by Marc Elrich himself — along with Kristin Mink and Laurie-Anne Sayles, who together form the Council’s holy trinity of progressive economics gone wild. That alone should disqualify him for anyone hoping to see actual economic growth in Montgomery County.
🧾 Evan Glass – Budget Surplus? Let’s Spend More
At first glance, Evan Glass seems reasonable. Clean-cut, composed, always ready with a thoughtful soundbite. But behind the curtain, Glass is every bit the tax-and-spend progressive his base wants him to be.
Glass supported the 2023 property tax increase,[2] voted for burdensome energy benchmarking mandates on local businesses,[3] and has never met a “pilot program” or new government office he didn’t like. His signature move? Getting taxpayer-funded campaign money through the county’s public financing system, while claiming to be a “champion of campaign reform.”[4]
He’s the kind of guy who talks about “fiscal responsibility” while voting to expand the county’s administrative bloat and grow the budget year after year. Friendly face, dangerous votes.
🧨 Celeste Iroha – The Woke Activist’s Dream Candidate
Celeste Iroha, a registered medical assistant and gun control advocate, was the first to enter the race. She has no political experience, but plenty of progressive buzzwords. Her campaign talks a lot about “reimagining” public safety, “decolonizing” housing, and “healing justice.” If those phrases confuse you, don’t worry — they’re not meant to clarify anything. Just signal that she’s ready to radically overhaul everything that works and subsidize everything that doesn’t.
While her ideas might sound fresh to political science undergrads, the reality is that Iroha’s activist agenda would skyrocket spending, scare off small businesses, and unleash an avalanche of social experiments funded by—you guessed it—you.
💼 Andrew Friedson – The Fiscal Hawk Who Keeps Voting Yes
Andrew Friedson is a curious case. He’s smart. He understands economics. He even gives speeches about the dangers of rising debt and ballooning pensions. But when it’s time to vote? He folds like a beach chair in a thunderstorm.
Friedson backed the 2023 tax hike,[5] has supported climate mandates that drive up costs for property owners,[6] and regularly votes for “targeted investments” — a phrase that should send chills down any accountant’s spine.
He’s the classic “reasonable Democrat” who tells business owners he’s on their side — until the activist left raises their eyebrows, and suddenly he’s finding “common ground” that costs you $2,000 a year.
🛋️ Gabe Albornoz – The Nice Guy Who Never Says No
Councilmember Gabe Albornoz is, by all accounts, a nice guy. He wants to build consensus. He wants to listen to all sides. He wants peace, love, and higher taxes.
Albornoz has been a rubber stamp for almost every tax increase, regulatory expansion, and equity initiative the Council has cooked up since 2018. He doesn’t lead; he floats — usually with the prevailing wind of the far-left majority. And while he speaks earnestly about “working families,” he’s consistently supported policies that raise the cost of living for those very families.[7]
If you want a County Executive who’ll form a commission to study your complaints about the last commission, Albornoz is your man.
🧠 Richard Madaleno – Bureaucracy, Thy Name is Richard
Then there’s Richard Madaleno. He’s not declared yet, but don’t let that fool you — this guy’s been running Montgomery County from behind the scenes for years.
As Chief Administrative Officer under Marc Elrich, Madaleno has overseen the internal decay of county government with pride. Before that, he was a longtime State Senator who helped engineer some of Maryland’s biggest state-level tax increases — including the infamous “millionaire’s tax” that caused an exodus of high-income earners to Virginia.[8]
Madaleno is the ultimate insider: a master of process, red tape, and strategic opacity. He knows how to grow government, how to bury audits, and how to justify every failure with a 100-slide PowerPoint. If he gets into the race, rest assured your taxes will go up — not because of ideology, but because the man truly believes government should do everything.
💰 The Common Thread: Your Wallet Is the Enemy
Despite their differences in tone and background, these candidates all agree on the fundamentals:
- They believe your income is a community asset.
- They see businesses as cash cows, not job creators.
- They think “affordable housing” is built through subsidies, not supply and demand.
- And they believe you should pay more — a lot more — to fund it all.
Under this Democratic leadership, Montgomery County has seen:
- A nearly $6 billion budget for 2025[9], up from $5.1 billion in 2020 — with little improvement in services.
- Worsening school performance, despite record education spending[10].
- A growing affordability crisis, with housing, energy, and food prices rising faster than wages.
- Small businesses shuttering, while bureaucratic headcount keeps rising.
If any of these Democrats win, it’s not a question of whether your taxes will go up. It’s only a question of how much and how fast.
🐘 Enter Robin Ficker – Yes, Really
In a field of tax-happy Democrats, even a character like Robin Ficker starts looking like a fiscal messiah. Say what you will — and people say a lot — but Ficker has spent the last 30 years being right about one thing:
Taxes in Montgomery County are too damn high.
He led the ballot initiative that passed in 2020 capping property tax increases.[11] He’s the only candidate in this race who has consistently fought against government waste, against automatic tax hikes, and for putting power back in the hands of voters.
You may roll your eyes at his antics — and yes, quoting yourself in the third person is a bold campaign tactic — but Ficker is the only one on the scene with the guts to actually take on the spending machine in Rockville.
🧾 Final Thoughts: Vote Like Your Paycheck Depends On It — Because It Does
Montgomery County is on the edge. We are hemorrhaging jobs to Frederick. We are losing retirees to Florida. We are pricing out young families who can’t afford the dream of homeownership in their own hometown.
And what do these Democrats propose? More spending. More regulation. More mandates. And more taxes to fund it all.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
We need leadership that respects taxpayers, encourages business growth, and knows when to say no to another shiny program that sounds good in a press release but ends in another budget hole.
So next time you hear a candidate say “justice,” “equity,” or “transformative investment,” grab your calculator — and your wallet. Because you’re about to pay for it.
— Carol Hughes is a Montgomery County small business owner, lifelong resident, and longtime critic of reckless spending and progressive groupthink. She believes government should help, not control.
📎 Endnotes:
- Montgomery County Council Votes to Hike Property Taxes, Bethesda Beat, May 2023
- Councilmembers Voting Record on FY23 Budget and Tax Increases, Montgomery County Government Archives
- Building Energy Performance Standards Mandate, MoCo Climate Action Plan, 2021
- “Glass Uses Public Financing in 2026 Bid,” Source of the Spring, Jan 2025
- Council Session Recap: FY23 Tax Plan Vote Breakdown, MoCo Council Documents, May 2023
- Climate Legislation and Impact on Development Costs, MoCo Office of Legislative Oversight, Report #2023-07
- MoCo Budget FY25: Social Services Expansion, Office of Budget and Management
- Maryland’s “Millionaire Migration” Report, Wall Street Journal, April 2011
- FY25 Approved Budget Summary, Montgomery County Council, June 2025
- MCPS Budget and Performance Audit, Maryland State Department of Education, March 2024
- 2020 Ballot Measure A (Tax Limit Amendment), Maryland State Board of Elections Results Summary
Carol Hughes is a columnist for Direct Line News Contact at Carol.Hughes@mcgopclub.com
Direct Line News is a Maryland-based free-access publication committed to the Republican reform tradition.
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