Councilmember Kristin Mink is seeking her second term on the county council in the June primary. Running against her on the Democratic ticket is Charles Kirchman, an IT project manager.
Josephine Salazar is running unopposed on the Republican ticket.
District 5 includes Burtonsville, Calverton, Cloverly, Colesville, Fairland, Hillandale, Spencerville and White Oak.
Kristin Mink
Mink has been a member of the council since December 2022. She is a first-generation Chinese American who attended Montgomery Blair High School. She has been a Montgomery County Public Schools teacher and a senior legislative organizer at the Center for Popular Democracy.
Mink voted for the FY27 county operating budget but did not support the elimination of the Income Tax Offset Credit. She supports tenant rights and actively opposes actions by ICE agents. In her campaign literature, she condemns “the federal government attacking our country, our residents’ livelihoods, and our values.”
Several years ago, she testified that she supports keeping police officers out of the schools unless there is an imminent threat of danger.
Charles Kirchman
Kirchman’s concern about the county finances led him to announce his candidacy for the council. He also decided to run when he realized Mink had no opposition.
“There was no one else running. Personally, I feel the voters should always have a choice.”
He would not have supported the county’s FY27 operating budget, particularly because he did not support elimination of the Income Tax Offset Credit. Also, with property assessments rising, taxes for residents will increase, he said, noting that places the tax burden on the shoulders of homeowners.
The adopted budget didn’t solve the county’s financial woes, Kirchman said. When creating next year’s budget, “It’s going to come around again, and they are going to come to the voters again,” he said.
He called for the return of school resource officers at at least some of the high schools. His daughter recently was at her school when there was a shooting. He wondered why the county recently secured funding for faith-based institutions but not for schools.
“There should be funding for more officers,” he said.
Kirchman said he supports “short term” funding for those in need, “but we can’t expect the county to fund and fix all those issues.”
The county needs to bring in more revenue, he said, noting, “We need to have well-paying jobs.”
He “definitely opposes” including high-density housing varieties into single-family residential areas. “I don’t think we should be destroying our neighborhoods,” he said.
He would like the county to fix its incinerator rather than agree to ship its garbage to another town.
Kirchman currently is working on a campaign website but said it is not live yet.
Admitting it will be difficult to beat an incumbent, Kirchman said, “I just hope people come out and vote and think carefully about the issues.”
