Berliner and Leventhal File Paperwork to Run for County Executive on Same Day (VIDEO)
Talk about timing.
A candidate for county executive in 2018, Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner was filing his election paperwork at the Board of Elections offices Monday morning when County Councilmember George Leventhal walked thru the door to do the same.
“Unbelievable,” said Leventhal, as the two Democrats, who are now competitors in the county executive race, shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.
“I was going ‘really,’ what a coincidence,” Berliner recalled. “It’s pretty funny, actually.”
BOE staffers said they were surprised by the candidates chance encounter at the counter because they were only expecting to see Berliner who had a 9 a.m. appointment.
Both candidates brought family members with them. Berliner was accompanied by his wife Karen, and his campaign manager Mallory MacRostie. Leventhal was joined by his son, Chico.
“We run into each other a lot in these types of situations,” Berliner said.
“I think we are getting along just fine,” Leventhal said. “It’s civil and cordial. I think we are motivated to run for many of the same reasons but there are issues and experiences that differentiate us.”
Berliner and Leventhal are also running against Councilmember Marc Elrich, who filed his election paperwork to run for county executive last week. The three Councilmembers are prevented from running for reelection to the Council because of term limits.
When asked what’s it like to run against his Council colleagues, Berliner summed it up as, “awkward.”
The three Democrats are expected to see a lot of each other on the campaign trail as they each reach out to voters at festivals, forums and parades across Montgomery County in the coming months.
“I hope we will be able to see our way thru in order to continue to do good work for our county as Councilmembers, even though we are now competitors and Councilmembers,” Berliner said.
As for the Republican side of the county executive race in 2018, Robin Ficker declared his candidacy on Feb. 28, which was the first day candidates could file. He’s the only Republican candidate to file to date.
The 2018 Primary Gubernatorial Election is set for June 26, 2018.
As @RogerBerliner was filing @georgeleventhal walked in to file his paperwork to run in 2018 for County Executive @777Vote. #MoCoVotesMCM pic.twitter.com/4PYVAPEbw6
— Sonya Burke (@SonyaNBurke) July 3, 2017
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