Montgomery County voters decide whether to limit county executive’s term

Question A on the November ballot proposes limiting the county executive’s powers to only two terms. The measure, if passed, would apply to County Executive Marc Elrich, who plans to run for a third term and opposes the move.

Along with choosing who they want to serve in Montgomery County, Maryland, voters will be able to decide how long their county executive should hold office. Question A on November vote proposes to limit the powers of the county executive to only two terms.

Montgomery County supervisors are currently limited to three terms.

Reardon Sullivan, a Republican and chairman of the Committee on Better Government, pushed for Question A to be placed on the ballot.

The measure, if passed, would apply to County Executive Marc Elrich, who plans to run for a third term and opposes the move.

Sullivan, who is running for county executive in 2022, said 62% of those who signed the petition to put the issue on the ballot were Democrats: “So this is definitely not a Republican initiative.”

Instead, Sullivan told WTOP, “At some point we have to say, ‘Look, we need new blood, fresh ideas,’ and again, the executive branch of most government agencies lasts two terms or eight years.”

Sullivan said the two-term limit should be viewed as “the foundation of good governance.”

“I would say the modality is to not have term limits in many of these positions, but we’ve seen issues like this come up a lot lately,” added UMBC assistant professor of political science Ian Anson.

And in regions where term limits are proposed and approved, Anson says, “you end up getting repeats in other places.”

Former County Executive Doug Duncan, a three-term Democrat, disagrees with the two-term limit proposal.

“I have always believed that three terms is the best solution. It gives you enough time to complete the projects you start, gives you time to chart a course and make sure everything happens,” Duncan said.

When Duncan was in office, from 1994 to 2006, there were no term limits for a county executive.

Duncan noted that county council members can serve three consecutive terms: “It is especially unfair for (the executive) to have a two-term limit and the council to have a three-term limit. They must be the same.”

Sullivan responded, “At this point, we’ll just negotiate with the county manager. And again, by the same logic: the executive branch is a branch of government that is usually limited to two terms, and now the council is limited to three terms.”

Former County Executive Ike Leggett, who also served three terms from 2006 to 2018, is a vocal opponent of the initiative. Leggett and a host of elected Democrats, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Jamie Raskin, lent their names to the No Question A movement, urging voters to vote against it.

The text of the ballot explains that the county charter would be amended to shorten the county manager’s term of office from the current three consecutive terms to two consecutive terms. Voters are asked to vote for or against the measure.

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