Less than 24 hours after polls closed on Election Day, Democrat Will Jawando announced a transition team as he is the presumed winner in the race for Montgomery County Executive.
“Make no mistake, this team is rooted in Montgomery County. It looks like Montgomery County intentionally and it’s going to work for Montgomery County,” Jawando said Wednesday at the historic Grey Courthouse in Rockville, where he says the full county executive staff will be relocating.
The eight-member team includes:
- Karine Jean-Pierre, former White House Press Secretary
- Yaminah Leggett-Wells, Alliance Management senior director, Amgen
- Kathleen Matthews, former executive vice president, Marriott International
- Kristin Mink, county councilmember
- Nancy Navarro, former county councilmember and former member of the county Board of Education
- Jeffrey Slavin, mayor emeritus, Town of Somerset (Slavin is the president of MCM’s Board of Directors)
- Rev. Tim Warner, pastor, Emory Grove United Methodist Church
- Shalanda Young, former director, White House Office of Management and Budget
The team will guide the transition and oversee 11 policy committees, each with two co-chairs who were also present at the announcement, meant to shape Jawando’s priorities as the presumed County Executive. The members of each committee will be announced Friday, Jawando said. He said his transition is named “One Moment Montgomery.”
According to the latest unofficial voting results, Jawando has 77.9% of the vote, while his opponent Republican Esther Wells has 21.72%. The results are not final and the election will not be certified until all mail-in and provisional ballots are counted.
The committees will put together a 100-day action plan to be released Dec. 8, which is when Jawando, who had a heart attack in September, is expected to start in his new role as county executive. At the end of March 2027, he said a report of committee recommendations will be released.
There will be six community workshops across the county between Nov. 30 and Jan. 18 to get input to inform the action plan and committee recommendations. Dates and locations will be announced.
