Councilmember Kate Stewart faces two challengers in her bid for reelection in District 4, which spans North Bethesda, Kensington, Garrett Park, Silver Spring, Takoma Park and parts of Chevy Chase.
The former mayor of Takoma Park was elected to the council in 2022. She was unanimously elected by her fellow councilmembers to serve as president from December 2024 to December 2025.
Kate Stewart
Stewart recently supported the county’s $7.9 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year 2027.
During her term on the county, she was instrumental in creating the United in Service and Support Community Resource Fair for federal workers who lost their jobs. And she introduced a financial support package to assist those former employees.
She also was a strong voice in opening the county’s first brick and mortar Montgomery County Pride Center.
Democrats Paula Bienenfeld and Peter ‘Rocky’ Whitesell hope to unseat Stewart.
Paula Bienenfeld
Bienenfeld, an environmental and historic preservation consultant, has been active in her community, striving to reduce traffic issues and volunteering in the schools.
Through her efforts, Bienenfeld learned, “It takes years and years, and you just get crumbs in the end,” she said, adding, “I email the council, and the councilmembers don’t respond.”
She decided to run for county council to improve communications between councilmembers and residents. She wants to find ways to stop the county from being “in a complete fiscal spiral.” She also wants to improve infrastructure to protect pedestrians and bicyclists.
Paula Bienenfeld
“I am just tired of not having our residents having input” until plans are well underway, she said.
She realizes it won’t be easy to defeat an incumbent, but noted, residents “are very responsive to wanting a change in government.” When she campaigns, people talk about how expensive it is to live in the area — something they tell her their legislators don’t seem to understand.
Rather than continuing to raise taxes, the county needs to “start attracting high target corporations that will bring high paying jobs,” she said. That would expand the tax base and reduce the need to keep going asking taxpayers for more, she explained.
She said she probably would not have voted for the latest county budget. But she would not have backed council initiatives like the University Boulevard Corridor Plan and Housing Now, which Stewart did support.
She criticized the county’s planning board for being “too autocratic.”
The mother of two said if elected she would speak out for her district residents, who she said seem to end up with more density and traffic than other parts of the county. She questioned why the Purple Line is underground in downtown Bethesda but not in downtown Silver Spring.
“I think the voters know, it’s time for a change,” she said. “It’s time for residents to be in control of the government and have a say as to what happens to our communities, our neighborhoods.”
Peter “Rocky” Whitesell
Whitesell did policy work at the National Institutes of Health before being laid off along with many other federal workers. He also worked at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
About two years ago, he was helping pick up trash near where he is a renter in Long Branch when he encountered a homeless person living there. He said it “hit him hard” that he was not able to help the homeless man. Because of that, “I am really running to work on homelessness and housing,” he said.
“The whole council kind of ignores it,” Whitesell said. He noted that councilmembers get excited when the homeless numbers decrease but seem to be more concerned with providing services for them rather than helping them improve their lives.
It’s important to have enough housing in order to bring the prices down, he said, adding, “Prices are skyrocketing.”
If the housing stock becomes more affordable, people who live in less expensive areas outside the county but work in Montgomery County would move into the county to be near their jobs, he said. That would reduce traffic issues and also increase the amount of taxes the county collects, Whitesell suggested.
“Housing pays for itself,” he said.
Peter ‘”Rocky” Whitesell
He is concerned that the budget the county just passed eliminated the $692 Income Tax Offset Credit while not doing much to make up for the revenue that will be lost. He also criticized the progressive income tax the council approved. He claimed it wasn’t that significant. “If they wanted to do a progressive tax, it should have hit the highest earners more.”
He supports actions the council has taken to reign in ICE agents. But he would like to see the county police act as witnesses and report the agents if they violate anyone’s civil rights. It should not be up to bystanders to intervene, he said.
He would like to see a program similar to one that exists in New York to financially help immigrants who are arrested and don’t have legal representation.
