A progressive former county councilwoman from the D.C. suburbs will be joining Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz on the Democratic primary ticket.
Kamenetz announced this morning that he has chosen Valerie Ervin, a former Montgomery County councilwoman and Board of Education member, to be his running mate. (Their names are already paired up on campaign literature, which makes it really official.)
The Washington Post first reported the development just after midnight.
Ervin entered politics as a union organizer fighting for parents’ rights in the workplace, according to a bio from Montgomery County; she was elected to the school board in 2004, and then won a council seat two years later, which she held until 2014. She’s since served as executive director of the New York-based nonprofit Center for Working Families, and has more recently been working as senior adviser for the Working Families Party. She’ll be leaving that post to campaign with Kamenetz.
In 2015, she ran for several months for the 8th District congressional seat that former Rep. Chris Van Hollen vacated to run for the U.S. Senate. But, per Bethesda Magazine, she dropped out of the race upon seeing she hadn’t raised enough money to remain competitive.
Kamenetz told The Post that Ervin “brings a wealth of experience that is different from my own,” and Ervin described them both as “fighters” for their Maryland locales.
Seven of the eight Democrats running for governor have now announced running mates in their campaigns. Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker, Montgomery County state Sen. Richard Madaleno and Alec Ross also revealed their lieutenant governor picks this week, and local defense attorney Jim Shea made a splash last week by picking Baltimore Councilman Brandon Scott. Ben Jealous chose Susan Turnbull as his running mate months ago. And, according to state records, returning candidate Ralph Jaffe will be joined by his sister, Freda, on the ticket.
Krishanti Vignarajah, formerly policy director for Michelle Obama, has until Feb. 27 to announce and file her running mate if she wishes to remain in the race.
The Democratic primary is set for June 26. The winner will face incumbent Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who’s faring consistently well in the polls.
