2016 Election Results: Montgomery County Voters Approve Council Term Limits

ROCKVILLE, MD — While Montgomery County was reliably blue for Democratic candidates from Hillary Clinton to incoming Sen. Chris Van Hollen, voters also tackled local issues, enacting term limits for the county executive and members of the County Council, and ousting one school board member.

According to unofficial returns, Clinton tallied 279,291 votes in Montgomery County to 71,008 votes for Republican Donald Trump. Van Hollen received 1,251,296 votes, for 62.2 percent, compared with 694,635 votes for Kathy Szeliga, or 34.5 percent, statewide. In Montgomery County, the Democrat had 277,428 votes to 78,578 votes for Szeliga, according to the unofficial totals.

Statewide, the former secretary of state garnered 1,037,334 votes for 62.8 percent of Maryland's votes, compared with 530,575 ballots, or 32.1 percent for the New York businessman.

You can check results for all races on the state election board's website; all results are unofficial so far. See national results.

"I want to thank you for uniting behind the common purpose," Van Hollen said in his acceptance speech, expressing his gratitude to voters. He said his vision was for every Marylander to be "treated with dignity and with respect."

Montgomery County Ballot Issues

Voters in Montgomery County decided three ballot questions, including one prompted by a petition calling for county council term limits, which was approved 144,055 or 68.3 percent to 57,700 votes or 31.7 percent. The vote means that the county executive and County Council members will be limited to serving three consecutive terms. In Montgomery County, the terms last for four years; the current term ends in 2018.

County Executive Isiah Leggett is affected by the measure; however, he has said he plans to retire.

This amendment will also change the composition of the County Council for the next term, opening up seats to nearly half of the nine-member body. Four council members are barred from seeking another term; another council member who began on a partial term is also be barred from seeking re-election, reports WTOP.

In response to the petition, the County Council placed a charter amendment on the ballot, Question C, that clarifies what constitutes a full term for County Council and county executive. As written, Question B treats a partial term like a full term. Question C was approved by 79 percent, meaning a partial term could only count as a full term if a person served for at least half the time.

In the race for Congressional District 3, Democrat John Sarbanes easily won the county with 33,639 votes to 11,706 for Republican Mark Plaster.

School Board Races

The Montgomery County Board of Education has two newcomers and an incumbent with wins for Jeanette Dixon, Shebra Evans and Rebecca Smondrowski, according to unofficial election results.

Dixon, a former teacher and principal, upset incumbent school board member Phil Kauffman with over 55 percent of the vote in the at-large race. Dixon tallied 183,773 votes for 55.89 percent, while Kauffman received 142,951 votes for 43.47 percent.

Smondrowski was re-elected to the school board with 207,002 votes for 66.69 percent over challenger Brandon Rippeon, who captured 101,279 votes for 32.63 percent.

Newcomer Shebra Evans won her race with 206,632 votes for 67.99 percent over Anjali Reed Phukan with 95,004 votes or 31.26 percent.

Towson Professor Predicts Outcome

Towson University political science professor Antonio Campbell predicted Monday that Trump would win the presidency. And was not surprised — as many national pollsters and experts were — when he talked to Patch late Tuesday night.

“Once again it’s the economy,” Campbell said. “People are just dissatisfied across the country.”

Campbell said Clinton never connected with core groups who have traditionally voted for Democratic candidates, including blue-collar and union workers. On top of that, young people who voted for Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders stayed home in the general election, Campbell says, while women were confused on how Clinton could champion women’s rights when she attacked all of the women who accused her husband of sexual misconduct. So women either voted for Trump or sat out of the election, as well, he said.

One high-profile Anne Arundel County voter — Gov. Larry Hogan, who has said for months that he didn't support Trump and wouldn't vote for Clinton either — wrote in his father's name on his early voting ballot, a spokesman said. Former Rep. Lawrence Hogan earned his son's write-in vote for president.

The elder Hogan was a Republican Congressman from 1969 to 1975, and served as Prince George’s County executive from 1978 until 1982, says WTOP.

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