The top two candidates for the At-Large Seat were Lynne Harris, with 29% of the votes (63,467), and Sunil Dasgupta, with 21% (44,736). Lynne and Sunil will now proceed to the general election in November. I believe that Sunil is the best choice, but both are good, progressive candidates. Stephen Austin (whose campaign is discussed below) came in a very distant third, with 13% (28,203).
Shebra Evans came in first in the District 4 race, with 65% (137,393).
In past years, and again this year, many people have asked my opinion on Montgomery County Board of Education elections. This year, there is a lot going on, so I am providing links for those who want to learn more.
For the June 2 primary, I endorsed, and have voted for, Sunil Dasgupta for the At-Large Seat and Shebra Evans for the District 4 seat.
In January, I endorsed Sunil. https://davidfishback.
I endorsed Shebra Evans in 2016, and set forth my reasons then:
https://davidfishback.
Shebra, who this year is serving as President of the Board, has been very much as advertised, and that is why I endorse her again. See https://www.shebraevans.com/
As Metro DC PFLAG Co-Chair for Maryland Advocacy, I prepare questionnaires for BOE candidates every election. Here are the questionnaires and answers for the 2020 primary, which I posted on March 22.
https://davidfishback.
Metro DC PFLAG does not make candidate endorsements, but provides these questionnaires so that voters can make informed choices.
In February, I learned that John Garza, a local attorney who had been active in anti-LGBTQ+ activities dating back more than 15 years, was the attorney bringing new litigation against the Montgomery County School System, and that this litigation was part of the core of the campaign being waged by Stephen Austin, a candidate for the At-Large seat. While this new litigation did not involve LGBTQ+ matters, Mr. Garza's involvement raised red flags for me with respect to Mr. Austin's candidacy. I then put together this blogpost, which laid out, with appropriate links, Mr. Garza's activities: https://davidfishback.blogspot.com/2020/03/minority-retort-from-bethesda-magazine.html These red flags concerned me even more when Mr. Austin was the only active candidate to ignore the Metro DC PFLAG questionnaire, even after I offered him an extension of time when he did not submit by the original March 15 deadline.
After consulting with other people who were concerned about the Austin candidacy, I co-authored a Guest Commentary in the on-line newspaper Maryland Matters. The next blogpost contains the May 1, 2020 Maryland Matters piece, along with Mr. Austin's response, our reply to his response, and other relevant material, including, at the end, the link to a blogpost on the status of complaints made against the Austin Campaign for the illegal posting of campaign signs. https://davidfishback.blogspot.com/2020/05/fomenting-fear-and-division-in.html and https://davidfishback.blogspot.com/2020/05/confirmation-of-law-breaking-by-stephen.html
The Maryland Matters piece engendered considerable discussion on social media, including some strong statements against the Austin candidacy by prominent County elected officials, who usually do not get involved in BOE primaries. I hope these materials will be useful to voters in the primary election.
For an actual analysis of David Fishback's opinion, read this. What he wrote had over 10 glaring misstatements of fact.
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