City of Frederick, MD Democratic Buzz

George Wenschhof Bio

I began the first of what will be ongoing posts pertaining to the City of Frederick election back on January 20.

Jennifer Dougherty made official, what I had predicted in that first column, when she announced her candidacy for Mayor yesterday. By announcing yesterday, Dougherty who is Irish will be in the news today on St. Patrick's Day.

Also yesterday, Jack Lynch announced his withdrawal from the race and his support for Jennifer Dougherty. Mr. Lynch was a former columnist with Air-it-Out with George Wenschhof.

Mr. Lynch has always come across as sincere in regard to his positive vision for the future of the City of Frederick. He will stay involved by working on the Dougherty campaign and managing the website. Look to see him stay involved in local politics. It is entirely possible he will surface in a future campaign for elected office.

We published posts yesterday on the Dougherty and Lynch announcements.

Meanwhile, the Judd for Mayor campaign continues moving forward with plans to begin canvassing City of Frederick residents this coming weekend. In a recent email sent to supporters, Jason Judd indicated he wants every voter to have a copy of his Brochure.

The alderman race grew by one Democrat yesterday when Andrew Kotkin filed his paperwork with City Hall. I spoke with him yesterday and he sent me a press release on his announcement.

Mr. Kotkin has lived in Frederick for nine years and owns a residential project management company. He and his wife have three children under the age of six. He emailed me the following as to why he is running for alderman:

"Quality of life issues, in my mind, are some of the biggest concerns for the citizens here in the City, and at the rate we are continuing to grow, we will need a government that has the willingness to listen to those concerns and voice whether it is acting in the best interest of those citizens it claims to represent."

I informed him we will publish a column from him detailing the reasons he is running for alderman and he indicated he will send to us. We have offered the same to all the Democratic candidates when they make their announcement. You can contact him at Kotkin4alderman@live.com

It still looks as though incumbent Democratic aldermen Donna Kuzemchak and David "Kip" Koontz will run for reelection. Their entry would increase the number to four Democrats running for alderman. The fourth is Kelly Russel who was the first to file.

Michael O'Connor also informed me he is moving closer to announcing he is running for alderman. Political junkies know him as the host of "Pressing Issues" a political discussion show that was broadcast by Comcast. I remember when he was a reporter with Adelphia cable and we actually had a local television news station. He is obviously knowledgeable of city issues and will make a competitive candidate. Look to see him announce within the next several weeks.

Popular former alderman Bill Hall will make it six Democrats running for alderman when he makes his announcement. He was the top vote getter in the 2001 election and will be looked upon as a favorite to win a seat on the five member Board of Alderman.

I also mentioned Carol Krimm, who is a member of the Frederick County Democratic State Central Committee, as a possible candidate in my January 20 post on the site. She would make it seven Democratic candidates and if successful and elected, she would be the first from the local Democratic central committee to win election to public office since 1997. Blaine Young, who was the chair of the committee at that time won and served one term as alderman. He is now a registered Republican.

Burke Miller, the President of the Frederick County Young Democrats indicated to me yesterday he was still considering a run for alderman. He plans to call Democratic activists to receive some advise prior to making a decision.

He would make it 8 candidates vying for five seats in the Democratic primary. The above eight Democratic candidates are all solid so look for an exciting Democratic primary. In all likelihood, the number of alderman candidates will grow by another two to three candidates.

We plan to offer online forums for the Democratic candidates after the filing deadline July 7, so stay tuned.

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