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Ervin’s council bid sends rivals’ plans into turmoil

School board member will run for Perez seat, prompting some interested in District 5 race to run at large

Wednesday, June 7, 2006

With Thomas E. Perez officially running for state office, the musical chairs in the Montgomery County Council race have shifted again with confirmation that school board member and council aide Valerie Ervin will run for his seat.

Ervin (D) brings to the race strong public support from her board tenure, as well as backing from county education and labor unions and other civic organizations.

Her decision also means some Democrats who were running for the District 5 seat are now resigned to running at large. District 5 includes Kensington, Takoma Park and parts of Silver Spring and Wheaton.

Candidates who had eyed Perez’s seat will run in an expensive countywide race, which already includes three incumbents for four seats; Steven A. Silverman (D-At large) of Silver Spring is running for county executive. The County Council has five district members and four at large.

No matter who ends up running and winning, the face in the District 5 seat will be new. And Ervin’s entry into the fray has thrown the race into a tailspin.

Fifth-grade teacher and Takoma Park City Councilman Marc Elrich (D) has abandoned his bid in District 5 and is running as an at-large candidate.

‘‘Valerie and I have similar ideas,” he said. ‘‘I think I could beat her, but the progressive vote would be split, which could lead to someone being elected that may not be the best choice to adequately represent District 5.”

Also factoring into Ervin’s and Elrich’s decisions are endorsements by the county’s powerful teachers union.

Union representatives apparently promised both candidates an endorsement, The Gazette has learned.

‘‘We wouldn’t have liked to see them on the ballot against each other. We have endorsed them both in the past because they both have been representative of the [MCEA] on education issues,” said Tom Israel, the union’s executive director.

Israel said June 7 was set as the day for union members to finalize recommendations for endorsements.

With Elrich running at large, many of the same organizations that may endorse Ervin may also back his campaign.

And with so many candidates now in the at large race, it becomes a fund-raising battle, said Donell Peterman (D), who is running at large, although he had considered running for Perez’s seat.

In addition to Peterman, at least seven other Democrats, besides incumbents Nancy M. Floreen of Garrett Park, George L. Leventhal of Takoma Park and Michael L. Subin of Gaithersburg, are running at large and competing for campaign contributions.

Peterman found out via the grapevine 10 days ago that Ervin was entering the District 5 race. He had been planning to switch to the district race. His initial at large announcement was made to avoid challenging Perez (D), who was still awaiting Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr.’s decision on whether he would stand for re-election. Peterman said he also promised not to run against Ervin.

‘‘I will remain an at large candidate now because I said I would not run against Valerie, and I intend to keep my word,” said Peterman, who was appointed to the District 5 seat in 2002 after Derick P. Berlage (D) resigned to apply for the Planning Board chairmanship. He promised then not to seek the seat in the 2002 elections, and did not.

With Ervin and Elrich apparently assured of some key endorsements, the battle for the other groups’ endorsements — and cash — will only intensify, said political newcomer and at large candidate Hugh Bailey (D).

Bailey was hoping for the teachers union’s nod.

‘‘I was looking forward to that endorsement. I think they liked me and I connected with the teachers ... now, I just don’t know,” he said.

Takoma Park City Councilwoman Joy Austin-Lane (D) is also out of the District 5 race and has thrown her support behind Ervin.

‘‘The time is right for her. When I entered this race it was about getting a progressive woman elected and I think Valerie will do that,” Austin-Lane said. She and Ervin will host a joint event this week notifying supporters of their decisions.

Not only is Austin-Lane out of the District 5 race, she also has no plans to revive a bid for a District 20 delegate. Instead, she will complete her term on the city council, which ends next year.

‘‘While my actions may have confused voters, I am not confused,” she said.

That leaves Hans Riemer as the only other Democrat in the District 5 race, besides Ervin.

‘‘I wish we had known about all this earlier,” Riemer said of Ervin’s decision. ‘‘After months of having to wait [for Curran to retire] now we have to go through this.”

Ervin denied for months that she would run for the County Council. As recently as three weeks ago, she told The Gazette that she had no intention of running for a council seat this year.

So why the switch?

‘‘I really never completely made up my mind,” she said. ‘‘I had a lot of obstacles in my path, the largest being that I was Leventhal’s chief of staff.”

Ervin has been criticized by some County Council members and some school board colleagues for possible conflicts of interest arising from her job in the council president’s office. Although a county ethics commission’s opinion concluded in 2004 that no conflict existed as long as Ervin did not participate in discussions of education issues as part of her job with Leventhal, questions lingered.

Ervin, a Silver Spring resident, is expected to formally announce the week of June 12.