Executive Underdogs Crowd Into Spotlight

2 Challenge Leggett for County Executive

Independent Robin Ficker was a one-term state delegate in the 1980s. (Courtesy Of Robin Ficker)

Republican Chuck Floyd and independent Robin Ficker each say they offer a credible political alternative in Montgomery County, where their candidacies for county executive have struggled for recognition all year amid a competitive Democratic primary campaign.

Now that former County Council member Isiah "Ike" Leggett's victory in the Sept. 12 primary has sealed the Democratic nomination, Floyd and Ficker say it is their turn to share the spotlight.

"We are now in a new phase," Floyd said.

But in a county where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1, even non-Democrats agree that neither candidate has the fundraising capability or political clout to persuade voters to abandon their allegiance to the long-dominant party in November.

According to campaign finance reports, as of late August, Floyd had $6,590 and Ficker had $508,527 -- but most of it was money he had loaned his own campaign. Leggett had raised $831,000.

Floyd, a former State Department employee who works as a security consultant, has never held public office and lost his 2002 bid for the seat held by U.S. Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). He has opposed a planned center for day laborers in Gaithersburg and proposed that local police officers be empowered to enforce immigration laws aimed at rooting out gang members.

Ficker, who runs a law practice, was a one-term state delegate in the early 1980s and has since failed to win several races. Since 1974, he has successfully placed 20 questions on the ballot, most of them to limit taxes, and voters have rejected all but three. He is just as known for his loud -- critics say abusive -- heckling of the opposition at Washington Bullets games in the 1990s.

"I don't think they have the demonstrated background of activity in the community or the credibility [to be elected]," said County Council member Howard A. Denis (R-Potomac-Bethesda), one of two elected Republican officials at the county level or higher.

Floyd and Ficker dispute that they are long shots. They say residents are sick of high taxes, overdevelopment, traffic congestion and expensive housing -- problems that have worsened under the Democrats' watch, they say. Floyd pledges to control growth, fight gangs and lower property, cellphone and energy taxes. Ficker, who switched his affiliation to independent this year after entering the race as a Republican, also wants to provide property tax relief and reduce traffic, partly by extending the Metro to Germantown.

"I think if a Republican has the right ideas, a Republican can be elected. So it is time for the political monopoly to be broken," said Floyd, 56, a Kensington resident who grew up on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

"I think that almost every Montgomery County voter knows how to think outside the box," said Ficker, 63, a lifelong county resident. "We need someone who reflects the population, and I think I do."

The last elected Republican county executive was James P. Gleason, who served from 1970 to 1978. No independent has won the job.