Cooper gets geographic in District 18 race

Frederic C. CooperFred Cooper thinks the Montgomery County delegation could benefit from some “geographic diversity.”

In his bid for the vacant District 18 seat in the House of Delegates, he’s making an issue out of where representatives live and how it might affect whose voice is heard in Annapolis.

Cooper’s address in the district is a relatively new one. He first came to Montgomery County in 1981, moving on to Howard County in 1989, where he was twice elected to the Democratic Central Committee. In 2005, he and his wife returned to Silver Spring, their current residence.

When asked what he would do in the state legislature, Cooper said he “would be particularly concerned about continuing the Governor’s efforts to stabilize the fiscal and budgetary situation.”

Last night in a candidate forum, Cooper said he supports Governor Martin O’Malley’s slots referendum, but he also supports more constraints on spending.

“Until the state’s fiscal and budget situation is addressed it is not practical to effectively consider other issues and priorities that require appropriations,” Cooper told PolitickerMD.com.

Cooper runs down the litany of issues from the environment to transportation and health care, but he distinguishes himself from his five opponents through geographic disbursement of their homes.

Cooper points to the residences of all of the recent delegations along the Connecticut Avenue corridor - Chevy Chase to Kensington - with “no representation from Silver Spring, Four Corners, Wheaton and the north end of the district which is just south of Rockville.”

“It has been about 15 years since there has been a member of this delegation from outside this small portion of the district,” Cooper said of Connecticut Avenue.

“While we are fortunate to have high quality representation, it would of value to have representatives who are deeply familiar with the nuts and bolts issues of other neighborhoods.”

The success of this strategy remains to be seen, but it is important to note that more members of the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee – the group deciding Lawton’s successor – live in Silver Spring than in the Connecticut Avenue corridor.

In that, Cooper’s is a geographically sound approach.