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Rare open seat heats up District 20 race

Friday, Jan. 6, 2006

Peter V.R. Franchot’s decision to run for state comptroller will leave an open House of Delegates seat in District 20 for the first time in 20 years.

Several Montgomery County Democrats have their eyes on that vacancy. Two veterans of the Takoma Park City Council have already filed, and other hopefuls say they intend to run.

Franchot is challenging incumbent William Donald Schaefer (D) in the Sept. 12 primary.

District 20 has long been a political hotbed. In 2002, eight Democrats ran for three seats in the primary. Incumbents Sheila E. Hixson of Silver Spring and Franchot won, and then went on to victory in the general election.

But longtime incumbent Dana L. Dembrow lost the primary to Gareth E. Murray of Silver Spring, who won in the general election. Murray could not be reached for comment on his plans for this year.

Hixson said it is not uncommon to have eight to 10 people run in the district’s Democratic primary.

‘‘As long as I’ve been in District 20, there’s always been a big primary,” she said. Hixson has been a member of the House of Delegates since 1976 and chairwoman of the Ways and Means committee since 1993.

‘‘People are coming out right now because there’s an open seat,” Hixson said. ‘‘Everyone wants a shot at it. They feel there might not be a shot at it again for a while.”

Former Takoma Park City Councilwoman Heather Mizeur, who was director of domestic policy for 2004 Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, is running. She held a fund-raiser Dec. 8 attended by Kerry, Franchot and Hixson.

Kerry ‘‘has been extremely gracious and supportive in this effort,” Mizeur said.

Mizeur said she had been thinking about running for a seat in the House regardless of whether Franchot gave up his post.

Takoma Park City Councilwoman Joy Austin-Lane has also filed. When she mentioned running for Franchot’s seat in May, ‘‘I got a resounding yes from a lot of people,” she said.

Austin-Lane said she believes her experience on the council has prepared her for political work at the state level. She also thinks it’s important that Takoma Park be represented.

Other names are beginning to surface as well. Tom Hucker, a Silver Spring resident and executive director of nonprofit Progressive Maryland, has not yet filed but believes he also will run. ‘‘A lot of people have encouraged me to run,” he said.

Hucker said he has spent a considerable amount of time in Annapolis lobbying, learning about the legislative process and making contacts, and he feels that experience has prepared him to take on a role of his own.

‘‘All the delegates and the senator are good on focusing on the issues. The trouble is, we don’t get enough bills to the floor,” Hucker said.

Silver Spring resident Blair Ewing, a former county councilman and school board member, told a Gazette reporter in early November that he was no longer running for the County Council and had considered a District 20 run. However, when contacted later, he said he had not made a decision.