{"id":8600,"date":"2017-09-29T07:00:58","date_gmt":"2017-09-29T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=8600"},"modified":"2017-09-28T13:42:37","modified_gmt":"2017-09-28T17:42:37","slug":"bill-fricks-up-the-executive-field-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/?p=8600","title":{"rendered":"Bill Fricks Up the Executive Field, Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Adam Pagnucco.<\/em><\/p>\n

Delegate Bill Frick\u2019s candidacy for Montgomery County Executive raises a number of questions that will impact both him and his rivals.\u00a0 Here\u2019s our shot at asking them and teasing out some answers.<\/p>\n

Question 1: The Path Not Taken<\/strong><\/p>\n

Four years ago, the higher office Frick really wanted was Attorney General.\u00a0 His path at that time was blocked by his district\u2019s Senator, Brian Frosh, but it could be much more viable in the near future.\u00a0 Frosh will be 76 years old at the end of his second term.\u00a0 If Frick were to remain in the House and raise money, expand his connections and build a statewide network, he would be a strong contender to succeed Frosh.\u00a0 Frick would also have a great rationale for an AG candidacy: his legislative history on consumer issues demonstrates that he would be an aggressive crusader against predatory banks, rapacious credit card companies and sleazy Internet scammers.\u00a0 That\u2019s a politically powerful message.\u00a0 But a losing race for Executive would let other candidates jump ahead of him for an AG run.\u00a0 It\u2019s a huge opportunity cost that should not be paid lightly.<\/p>\n

Question 2: Geography<\/strong><\/p>\n

How much are Frick and Council Member Roger Berliner handicapped by the fact that they represent much of the same area?\u00a0 Berliner\u2019s District 1, which includes Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Kensington, Potomac and Poolesville, contains 31% of all Super-Democrats<\/a> (Dems who voted in all three of the 2006, 2010 and 2014 primaries).\u00a0 Frick\u2019s Bethesda-based District 16, which is inside District 1, contains 19% of all Super-Dems.\u00a0 These areas are excellent bases from which to launch a countywide campaign.\u00a0 But Frick and Berliner could split these votes, hurting both of them.\u00a0 Also worth considering is that Council Member Marc Elrich will get votes in this region as well owing to his criticism of unpopular master plans passed by the County Council.<\/p>\n

Question 3: Prior Races<\/strong><\/p>\n

Consider this.\u00a0 In the last four years, Frick has run for four different offices: Attorney General, Delegate, Congress and now Executive.\u00a0 No other MoCo politician can say that.\u00a0 Accordingly, there is some skepticism in the political community that he will be in the Executive race to the end.\u00a0 That is going to play itself out with large contributors, who are critical since Frick will be using traditional campaign financing and there are only nine months left until the primary.\u00a0 The last thing a big donor who cares about county government wants is to go all in for a candidate who drops out and runs for something else.\u00a0 This is huge considering that Frick reported a balance of $45,818 in his state account in January and he cannot transfer funds directly from his federal account.\u00a0 Frick needs to have a convincing argument to address this with donors or he will be unable to fund a competitive campaign.<\/p>\n

Question 4: Counter-Attacks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frick\u2019s early strategy is to attack the County Council, a message that should get some traction among the majority of county Democrats who voted for term limits<\/a>.\u00a0 Frick told the Washington Post<\/a>, \u201cOur demands exceed our capacity, on our roads and in our classrooms\u2026 Too often, local leaders have been complacent, content to raise taxes and resist vital reforms, and our small businesses and parents grow more and more frustrated.\u201d\u00a0 In Bethesda Magazine<\/a>, he criticized the \u201cRockville bubble\u201d and blasted the council for protecting the liquor monopoly.\u00a0 (Berliner is the one Council Member who agrees with Frick on that issue.)<\/p>\n

But Frick has a record too and his new rivals are sure to bring it up.\u00a0 While Frick attacks the county\u2019s giant property tax hike, he voted for numerous state tax increases during the O\u2019Malley years, including a 2012 state income tax hike<\/a> of which MoCo residents paid 41% of the increase<\/a>.\u00a0 The Council Members will grill Frick on the state\u2019s anemic performance in financing school construction in MoCo<\/a>, a major issue for voters.\u00a0 And Council Members Marc Elrich and George Leventhal, both of whom have co-sponsored a bill establishing a $15 minimum wage in MoCo, will ask Frick why he was not a co-sponsor of the state\u2019s $15 minimum wage bill<\/a> in the last General Assembly session.\u00a0 In politics, no one gets to throw a sharp elbow without taking one in return.<\/p>\n

Question 5: Other Candidates<\/strong><\/p>\n

We suspect that Frick may not be the last non-Council Member to enter the race.\u00a0 Senator Cheryl Kagan (D-17) is sure to look at a field that includes four men and think, \u201cIn a primary electorate that is roughly 60% female<\/a>, maybe there\u2019s room for a woman in this race!\u201d\u00a0 Former Council Member Valerie Ervin, who polled an Executive race in 2013, might think, \u201cYeah, I got that, plus I have a base that no one else has!\u201d\u00a0 Businessman David Blair, who can self-finance, is polling<\/a> and would be a true outsider candidate \u2013 even more than Frick.\u00a0 Elrich, who has an immovable base of true believers who could be a fifth of the electorate or more, would no doubt welcome a large field.<\/p>\n

And there could be even more surprises in an election that is shaping up to be one of the wildest in MoCo history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Adam Pagnucco. Delegate Bill Frick\u2019s candidacy for Montgomery County Executive raises a number of questions that will impact both him and his rivals.\u00a0 Here\u2019s our shot at asking them and teasing out some answers. Question 1: The Path Not Taken Four years ago, the higher office Frick really wanted was Attorney General.\u00a0 His path … Continue reading Bill Fricks Up the Executive Field, Part Two<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[151,272],"tags":[1545,441],"class_list":["post-8600","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adam-pagnucco","category-bill-frick","tag-adam-pagnucco","tag-bill-frick-2"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4mKJE-2eI","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8600"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8611,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8600\/revisions\/8611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8600"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8600"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theseventhstate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8600"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}