Fitzwater takes commanding lead in Frederick County executive race

Jul. 20—Frederick County Councilwoman Jessica Fitzwater pulled out to a commanding lead ahead of Councilman Kai Hagen and Daryl Boffman for the Democratic nomination for Frederick County executive, based on unofficial results released early Wednesday.

Election officials, however, cannot begin counting mail-in ballots until Thursday, under state law.

Fitzwater, a two-term council member, received 7,054 votes, or 57% of the total so far.

"I think this is a sign voters are really happy with the way things are going in Frederick County," Fitzwater said in a phone interview with the News-Post on Tuesday night. Fitzwater and her supporters were gathered for an election night watch party at Attaboy Beer brewery in Frederick.

"I feel so much energy behind this campaign," she said.

Hagen, who is completing his first term on the council, had 3,629, or 29%, according to unofficial results from the Maryland State Board of Elections.

Boffman, a business consultant and former Frederick County Board of Education member, had 1,751 votes, or 14%.

The results were based on tallies from in-person voting on Primary Election Day, plus totals from the July 7 to 14 early-voting period.

As of Monday, 15,000 Democratic voters in Frederick County had received ballots by mail.

The National Conference of State Legislatures lists Maryland as the only state in the country where election officials are prohibited from preparing mail-in ballots for counting until after polls close at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

The law might delay election results in Frederick County and across Maryland for days following Tuesday's primary election.

The Frederick County Board of Elections will tally some mail-in votes Thursday, then the rest on July 29. Results will be posted at the end of each day.

Provisional ballots — cast when there is a question at the polling place about someone's registration or eligibility — will be counted July 27.

On July 29, election officials are expected to finalize their vote counts and certify election results.

The primary election winner will face Maryland Sen. Michael Hough in the Nov. 8 general election. Hough ran unopposed for the Republican nomination.

Frederick County has had a charter form of government, with a county executive and a County Council serving as the legislative body, since 2014. Previously, the five-member Board of County Commissioners was the county's executive and legislative body.

County Executive Jan Gardner ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination in both 2018 and 2014. She won 52% of the general election vote in 2018 and 54% in 2014.

Gardner, D, is term-limited and cannot run again.

In January, Fitzwater took a leave of absence from her job as a music teacher at Oakdale Elementary School in Ijamsville to run her campaign. She has said that she would try to replicate Gardner if elected.

Fitzwater said in an interview with the News-Post in May that Gardner was "exactly the best person" for the county to elect as its first executive. As the county's second executive, Fitzwater said she would seek to improve affordable housing options and help small businesses locate and expand in the county.

Like Fitzwater, Hagen has aligned himself in some ways with Gardner.

Hagen, who served one term on the now-defunct Board of County Commissioners with Gardner, said in an interview with the News-Post in May that he would ramp up the county's efforts to combat climate change, increase the county's acreage goal for preserved farmland and improve equity in government.

Boffman has highlighted his decades of experience as a business executive and board member for a number of county organizations, and his decade on the county's Board of Education.

He said in an interview with the News-Post in May that it's important for the county to continue its progress under Gardner, but he aims to take the county in a new direction in a few ways, particularly in how the county's municipalities grow.

The three candidates have all said they would continue to set funding for Frederick County Public Schools well above state requirements, which the county has done each of the last eight years.