District 18 House race a tight one

Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2006

After all the electronic votes, nearly 35,000, were counted in the District 18 House of Delegates Democratic primary race Tuesday, challenger Jeff Waldstreicher had pulled out a victory to join Dels. Jane E. Lawton and Ana Sol Gutierrez.

Lawton of Chevy Chase easily won with 6,804 votes — about 20 percent of the vote. Gutierrez of Chevy Chase had 5,558 votes and Waldstreicher of Kensington had 5,294 votes. Challenger Daniel E. Farrington of Chevy Chase was the next closest challenger with 4,902 votes.

The number of absentee and late provisional ballots will not be known until later today.

Eight Democratic candidates were vying for one of three open seats in District 18, which represents portions of Silver Spring, Chevy Chase, Bethesda, Kensington and Wheaton.

Candidates in the crowded field had worked to distinguish themselves from the pack, but all shared similar views on the importance of education and building the purple line.

The Democratic winners will face Republican challengers Richard A. Fenati, Joan Pleiman and Lorri D. Simmons, all of Kensington, in November.

Del. Richard A. Madaleno of Kensington ran unopposed for the Senate seat in District 18. He will face David Stegmaier of Kensington in the general election.

In the District 16 House Democratic primary, the three incumbents won, but the race for the third slot was close. Dels. William A. Bronrott, Susan C. Lee and Marilyn R. Goldwater received 10,777, 10,546 and 7,791 votes, respectively. Challenger Regina Oldak of Bethesda was close behind with 7,040 votes.

The three Republican House challengers, Robert F. Dyer, Angela M. Markelonis and Mike Monroe, all advanced to the General Election in November.

Sen. Brian Frosh (D) ran unopposed for his seat in the primary and will face Robert F. Dyer Jr. (R) in November.

District 16 encompasses Bethesda and Chevy Chase.

In District 17, Democratic incumbents Kumar P. Barve of Gaithersburg and Luiz R.S. Simmons of Rockville won easily in the House of Delegates race. Simmons had 6,014 votes and Barve had 5,712 votes. James ‘‘Jim” W. Gilchrist of Rockville took the third seat with 3,565 votes.

Gilchrist, the son of the late County Executive Charles W. Gilchrist, ran unsuccessfully for a seat in 2002.

Political newcomer Ryan S. Spiegel was closest to Gilchrist with 3,190 votes.

The top three Democratic vote-getters in the primary will face three Republicans — Mary Haley, Paul N. Hnarakis and Josephine J. Wang — in the General Election.

State Sen. Jennie M. Forehand of Rockville had no challenger in the Democratic primary and has no Republican opponent in the General Election.

In District 39, political newcomer Saqib Ali, a 30-year-old North Potomac resident, beat incumbent Del. Joan F. Stern by about 6 percent with 4,205 votes in the Democratic House primary.

Ali was behind incumbent delegates Charles E. Barkley of Germantown and Nancy J. King of Montgomery Village. The top three vote-getters will advance to the general election in the House of Delegates race to face off against Republicans David Nichols, Gary Scott and Bill Witham, all of Gaithersburg.

Throughout the race Ali said he would invigorate the District 39 delegation, bringing energy and fresh ideas to Montgomery County and the state.

He repeated the message that what set him apart from his fellow candidates is at the same time what brings him closer to ‘‘the face of Montgomery County.”

‘‘I’m in an interracial and interfaith marriage, I’m a professional, I’m sort of middle income and I live in a diverse world,” he said during his campaign. ‘‘I have feet in a lot of different worlds. I can be a bridge between different communities.”

Stern, who had been dropped from the District 39 slate of incumbents, served two terms in the House and has long been an activist for community issues.

Stern could not be reached for comment at Gazette press time.

In 2002, she joined a slate with Sen. Patrick J. Hogan and King and Barkley only at the end of the campaign.

Barkley, King and Hogan said this election season that they were dropping Stern for compatibility reasons, because the District 39 slate ‘‘was just not working as a team.”

Hogan was uncontested for his Senate seat.

In District 15, all candidates advanced to the November election.

In other prominent legislative races in the county, several long-serving members of the General Assembly lost, including Ida G. Ruben, Carol Petzold and Adrienne A. Mandel.

Ruben of Silver Spring had served 31 years in the General Assembly, 19 of them as a senator in District 20. Petzold of Aspen Hill and Mandel of Layhill had a combined 32 years representing District 19 in the House of Delegates.