Asian American Democrats Reaffirm Endorsement of Marc Elrich

For Immediate Release

Press Contact:

Barnaby Yeh

aademsmoco@gmail.com

Twitter: @aademsmoco

Website: www.asiandemsmoco.org

Asian American Democrats Reaffirm Endorsement of Marc Elrich

Nancy Floreen’s Betrayal of Democrats Condemned

ROCKVILLE, Maryland: The Asian American Democratic Club of Montgomery County is restating its endorsement of the official Democratic nominee for County Executive, Marc Elrich. Elrich narrowly won the nomination after a long recount in a primary election fraught with shady opposition from corporate and developer interests, clearly demonstrating the power of progressive values to win over the hearts and minds of the people. (Much of our case for Elrich has been stated in our initial endorsement.)

Unfortunately, these interests have not relented, and in a move that shocked many, Marc saw an immediate emergence of opposition in the form of former Councilmember Nancy Floreen, who left the Democratic Party after a long career in order to run for County Executive as an independent.

Nancy Floreen’s Oddly-Timed Independent Run

Shortly after the defeat of developer favorite David Blair in the primaries, Floreen announced that she would run for County Executive under an independent ticket. This move stood in contravention to all norms of the Montgomery County Democratic Party, which has encouraged party unity to support the victorious nominee after even the most divisive primary elections. Even more disturbing was that, despite numerous procedural obstacles related to timing, her candidacy was still cleared.

Clearly, some in power took issue with the outcome of the primaries and wanted to push back. It is therefore not surprising to see that the same interests that supported Blair have come to back Floreen. Being ineligible for public funding due to her late entry, Floreen has elected to receive over $340,000 in financial backing from monied donors from the real estate industry. The legality of some of her sources has even received question from concerned citizens, who alleged that several of her donors are affiliated with each other, in violation of election law. Only after significant public pressure did she return $18,000 of those donations.

Any rhetoric of “choosing county/principles over party” ring completely hollow when it is clear that Floreen has chosen shady special interests above all else.

In stark contrast, with a solidly progressive record and platform, as well as talking public funding, Marc Elrich has won the approval of the Democrats of Montgomery County from bottom to top. In line with party leadership and under principle of unity, we restate that he is the right choice for Montgomery County, and thus reaffirm our full endorsement for him in the general election.