Several progressive political groups joined together Wednesday in support of Councilmember Will Jawando’s bid to be county executive and to keep what they say is ‘outside money’ out of the election.
Representatives from Progressive Maryland, Casa in Action, Jews United for Justice Campaign Fund, Montgomery County Education Association and SEIU Local 500 called for the elimination of outside money, which they alleged is mostly coming from developers. They gathered at Silver Spring Civic Center.
Following their press conference, several legislators, including Jawando, County Executive Marc Elrich and Councilmember Kristin Mink, spoke in favor of Jawando’s campaign bid. Also attending in support of Jawando were Rockville City Councilmember Izola Shaw, who is running for the council in District 3, and at-large candidates Josie Caballero and Fatmata Barrie.
“People [who] are not in our county cannot, cannot, influence our community,” said Tonia Chestnut, moderator of the event. “We cannot allow that to happen.”
Chestnut, who lives in the Enclave Apartments in White Oak, said Jawando “is the one who we need to stand up for us.”
Dena Lebowitz from Jews United for Justice Campaign Fund, shared her personal opinion that she believes that there are three types of candidates, calling the first “ones bought and paid for” and the second “the ones who wait to see which way the vote is going.” The third, she said, was Will Jawando.
Cheryl Gannon, lead organizer of Neighbors for Will, called it important for local residents to have a voice. She also shared her personal opinion alleging that people she called outsiders were pouring “dark money” into a campaign against Jawando, and also alleged that the so-called outsiders “play dirty.”
Gannon claimed, “Andrew Friedson opened the door for them.” MCM news has not confirmed this statement by Gannon.
When asked to comment following the news conference, Friedson wrote in an email to MCM: “My focus on this campaign is making our county [is] a place where everyone can afford to live, work and raise a family. While we have three good Democrats running who all strongly support our public schools and have consistently voted for record MCPS funding on the Council, the clear choice comes down to our record on taxes and our economic visions for Montgomery County.”
Friedson added, “This race shouldn’t be about outside groups or unnecessary distractions which none of us control. It should be about the real issues residents face every day and how we build a truly affordable community.”
During the news conference, Leah Nayman, executive director of MCEA, said Jawando “fought to protect funding for our schools.” She called Jawando the only candidate who proposed a plan to help fund Montgomery County Public Schools.
“Unfortunately, there are interests outside of our community that are pouring money into this county to further their own goals. They aim to ensure that the decisionmakers in Montgomery County work for them, not for us,” Nayman said.
Pia Morrison, SEIU Local 500 president, said she “unequivocally” condemns ads running against Jawando. She called the ads “misleading” and “false.”
She added, “They are disruptive, and they are designed to confuse and undermine Will’s record and his character.”
Pointing to Jawando’s opponents, Morrison said, “If character counts, and it should, your not speaking up to these divisive and false and misleading ads speaks to your character and to the nature of the kind of leader you would be for Montgomery County.”
Supporters of Will Jawando's bid for county executive held a news conference Wednesday to condemn outside money they say is spewing lies against their candidate. @mymcmedia @CMJawando @Progressive_MD @casaina pic.twitter.com/gwJxJZGjve
— suzanne pollak (@SuzannePollak) May 27, 2026
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen said in a Facebook video that, while not supporting any candidate for Montgomery County executive, he also does not support ads that he described as false and misleading. “I want to make one thing clear, there is no place for outside Super PAC ads that lie about any of the candidates or their records, and I am frankly sickened by the ad I saw that lies about Will Jawando’s record on education,” Van Hollen said.
According to Van Hollen and many of the press conference attendees, the ad ties Jawando directly to poor student academic scores and an incident involving Joel Beidleman, a former school principal who was the subject of numerous harassment, bullying and sexual harassment complaints before being fired.
In a campaign email, Jawando’s team pointed to “Special interests and Republican-connected donors” who “are spending millions of dollars to attack Will Jawando’s record.”
Wednesday, Jawando called the ads “very upsetting.” He said the groups “are going to spend more money attacking me than I have in my campaign account.”
Pointing to his supporters, Jawando said, “This makes me feel good.”
As the conference came to a close, Elrich stepped atop a bench declaring his support for Jawando and called the attack ads “a new low.”
Elrich said he has worked with Jawando, Friedson and Councilmember Evan Glass, “and Will’s the only one I will trust.”
He urged members of the crowd to campaign “to defeat these guys and keep politics clean.”
Councilmember Mink condemned ads, as well, calling them “false narratives,” too. Mink told Jawando’s supporters to not be shy, but rather to counter all social media posts that spread what she called “lies.”
“We have to be loud and proud with the facts,” said Mink.
Glass’ campaign manager, Cody Bibeau, sent an email to MCM in response, stating, “Evan Glass is the only candidate who has consistently refused to take corporate money, PAC money or special interest money throughout his time in elected office.”
“Evan has always been on the side of Montgomery County residents – never on the side of special interests,” Bibeau added.
Both Glass and Friedson also contacted MCM to share information about Jawando’s 2022 council reelection campaign and his unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate in 2023. At that time, Jawando had hoped to fill former Sen. Ben Cardin’s seat, but in less than six months, Jawando bowed out and supported U.S. Sen. Angela Alsobrooks, instead.
According to Open Secrets, a government transparency nonprofit website, Jawando had a PAC that was registered with the Federal Elections Commission during 2024. It was called Will of the People. It raised $53,042 and spent $49,193 as of December of 2024. Of the 19 donors, four listed addresses in New York and six listed addresses in Washington, D.C. or parts of Maryland, not in Montgomery County.
I haven’t endorsed in the Democratic primary for County Executive in Montgomery County, and I’m not doing so now, but I want to make one thing clear – there is no place for outside super PAC ads that lie about any candidates in this race.
Let’s hold ourselves to some basic… pic.twitter.com/P09pjOfVDP
— Chris Van Hollen (@VanHollenForMD) May 27, 2026
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Editorial Note: The views expressed in this article reflect the opinions of community members that were shared during a public open forum and do not reflect the views of Montgomery Community Media.
