This year’s Committee for Montgomery legislative breakfast was abuzz with gubernatorial gossip!
The scoop: Retiring Montgomery County Councilwoman Nancy Floreen’s (D-At Large) political stock is rising in the Maryland Democratic lieutenant gubernatorial sweepstakes.
Floreen, who was first elected in 2002 to an at-large seat on the council, is barred from seeking a fourth term after Montgomery County voters overwhelmingly affirmed an amendment to the county’s charter in November 2016, limiting the county executive and County Council members to three consecutive terms.
Multiple political insiders who attended the December 14 breakfast at the North Bethesda Marriott told A Miner Detail that Floreen will likely be vetted for lieutenant governor for Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker’s gubernatorial ticket.
Sources said that Floreen’s experience on the County Council, as well as her two-year stint as mayor of Garrett Park in the early 2000’s, makes her one of Maryland’s most formidable female elected officials.
Floreen told A Miner Detail on Thursday that she is backing Baker’s gubernatorial campaign.
A source with close ties to the Baker campaign told A Miner Detail on Thursday that state Sen. Cheryl C. Kagan, a Democrat who represents District 17, is out of the running to be on Baker’s ticket.
It’s been long speculated that Kagan has been positioning herself to be chosen as the number-two for one or more of the gubernatorial candidates – either Baker or Kamenetz.
Former NAACP head Ben Jealous was the first of eight Democratic gubernatorial candidates to announce his lieutenant governor pick.
Jealous announced on Nov. 29 that Susan W. Turnbull is joining his progressive ticket. Turnbull, who is a resident of Montgomery County, has held local, state and national positions in the Democratic Party and has close ties to the Montgomery County Jewish community.
