Challenger's Coffers Are Well-Stocked for County Council Race

Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, February 2, 2006

A challenger -- not an incumbent -- is winning the race for campaign cash among Montgomery County Council candidates.

Duchy Trachtenberg , president of the Maryland chapter of the National Organization for Women, said she has raised almost $210,000 for her expected bid for a council seat.

Trachtenberg, a Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for the council in 2002, must decide whether to run for one of three at-large council seats or the District 1 seat. District 1 includes parts of Potomac, Bethesda and Chevy Chase.

If Trachtenburg runs in District 1, a seat currently held by Howard A. Denis (R-Potomac-Bethesda), she will face lawyer Roger Berliner in the Democratic primary. The winner of that contest would face Denis, the council's lone Republican, in the general election.

If she runs at large, Trachtenberg will have to compete against several incumbents and challengers in the Democratic primary. But if she wins in the primary, Trachtenburg doesn't expect to have much competition in the general election because Democrats hold a large registration advantage.

"I think either race is winnable," said Trachtenberg, who plans to decide by the end of March. "It is really a question of: Do I run two races -- a primary and a general election -- or do I run one race?"

Whatever she decides, Trachtenberg already has $208,000 in her campaign coffers and said she could raise an additional $150,000 by summer's end.

In the at-large race, incumbents Nancy Floreen (D) and President George L. Leventhal (D) are so far Trachtenberg's closest rivals in the money chase. Floreen has $170,000 in the bank and Leventhal has $82,000.

Council member Tom Perez (D-Silver Spring) has about $203,000 in the bank, but he hopes to use the money to run for state attorney general.

If Trachtenburg runs in District 1, she could hold a huge cash advantage over Berliner, who has $39,000 in the bank. Denis has $116,000.

"It is getting very expensive to run for public office in Montgomery County," Trachtenburg said.

Trachtenberg has been raising money since the spring, when she considered running for the 8th District congressional seat held by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D). When Van Hollen was eyeing a campaign for U.S. Senate, Trachtenburg raised more than $200,000 for a possible congressional campaign.

But Van Hollen decided to seek reelection, dashing Trachtenberg's hopes of running for Congress.

Trachtenberg, who doesn't accept contributions from developers, said she returned the money donors gave her for a congressional bid and asked them to write her another check for the council race.

The strategy paid off.

State's Attorney's (Money) Race

The Montgomery County State's Attorney race remains very much a moving target. But this much is clear:

The county's top prosecutor, Douglas F. Gansler (D), who has more than $1.4 million in his campaign chest, will almost certainly leave his job to run for state attorney general.

Montgomery County Deputy State's Attorney John McCarthy (D) has raised close to $140,000 to move into his boss's office -- more than any other person who has expressed interest in the job.

Prince George's Assistant State's Attorney John Maloney (D) has raised close to $45,000 for a possible bid to move west and up the chain of command.

Dan Fox (D), a former California prosecutor running on a platform of reducing gang activity, has raised about $3,400.

Leon Rodriguez (D), a lawyer with the firm Ober Kaler, decided not to run, "after a lot of consideration."

James Shalleck (R), a defense attorney who has twice campaigned for the seat, said he would like to take another stab at it if Gansler announces his candidacy for attorney general.

"I wouldn't run against Doug," Shalleck said, noting how much money Gansler has raised. "Everything depends on what Doug Gansler does."