Candidates prepare for voters choice in Montgomery County special primary election

ROCKVILLE-- Just as voters prepare to go to the polls to select nominees for the vacant District 4 seat on the Montgomery County Council, the majority of the candidates participated in traditional get-out-the-vote efforts, from phone-banking to door-to-door campaigning.

On the Democratic side, Nancy Navarro, Don Praisner and Pat Ryan of Silver Spring, along with Steve Kanstoroom of Ashton, are vying for their party's nomination.

Navarro, the president of the Montgomery County Board of Education, and Praisner, the husband of the late District 4 councilwoman Marilyn Praisner, are considered the favorites at this point.

On the Republican side, Mark Fennel and John McKinnis of Silver Spring highlight a field that includes Robert Patton of Silver Spring and Thomas Hardman of Rockville.

Speaking today with PolitickerMD.com, Lee Annis, a professor of history and political science at Montgomery College's Rockville campus, said he expected the Democratic contest would be a two-person race between Navarro and Praisner.

The professor said Praisner had "a very popular wife" who "did not upset anyone."

In regard to Navarro, Annis said the board president had done a good job securing a "foot hold on the Hispanic community and with unions."

Navarro, a native of Caracas, Venezuela, raised $34,446 for her campaign, the most of any candidate, according to finance reports released last week.

Political action committees, largely labor unions representing firefighters and school employees, contributed $22,000 to her campaign.

When asked how Praisner could cut into Navarro's advantage with Hispanic voters and with union members, Annis said he was "not sure," but said Marilyn Praisner's legacy could aide her husband.

"A lot of people in the fourth district remember her fondly," Annis said of Mrs. Praisner, "Including unions."

Of the Republican candidates, Annis said McKinnis has been the "most active" meeting with voters during the campaign.

McKinnis was the 2004 GOP nominee in Maryland's 4th Congressional District; he lost to incumbent Rep. Al Wynn (D-Mitchellville) in the heavily Democratic district. Wynn secured 75 percent of the vote in the election, while McKinnis earned 20 percent.

In addition, McKinnis made an unsuccessful bid for state delegate in 2006. Today, he owns Beltsville-based Light Integrations, LLC, an information technology business.

"He's run before and he hasn't embarrassed himself," Annis said of McKinnis.

Fennel, a marketing analyst, was the 2006 Republican nominee for the District 4 council seat; he was soundly defeated by Praisner in the general election.

Annis said he thought McKinnis would be the strongest Republican candidate in the general election because "people know him," and they "do not know Fennel as well."