Ben Kramer and Nancy Navarro. Photos from the candidates’ sites.

Voters in Montgomery County’s District 4 will choose Democratic and Republican nominees for County Council on Tuesday. On the Democratic side, Nancy Navarro and Ben Kramer are considered the front-runners, and are also the candidates most in favor of transit and transit-oriented growth in Montgomery County. Navarro pulls slightly ahead of Kramer on our issues. All Republicans oppose the Purple Line, but Andrew Padula favors transit in the County more than his opponents.

This morning, the Action Committee for Transit released their scorecard based on questionnaires and candidates’ public statements. It rates candidates on five major issues:

  • Purple Line: Do they support the light rail link from New Carrollton to Bethesda?
  • Rail on Route 29: Would they study light rail in the median of Route 29 up to Burtonsville?
  • Metro communities: Do they believe in focusing development around Metro stations in designs that favor walkers and bikers instead of just cars?
  • Green growth: Would they insist that new “transit-oriented development”, like that in Germantown and Gaithersburg West, actually include the transit link?
  • ICC: Do they feel that building the Intercounty Connector was a mistake, especially given Maryland’s dire fiscal situation?

Navarro is the only candidate to get a perfect score, supporting the transit-oriented viewpoint on five of five issues. Kramer supports the Purple Line, Route 29 light rail, and Metro-centered development, but also supports the ICC and, in ACT’s judgment, would move forward with large projects far from transit even if the promised transit never materialized. All other Democratic candidates support the Purple Line and Route 29 light rail, but ACT dubs all unknown or against the transit-centered viewpoint on development. Cary Lamari, the homeowner’s association candidate, also opposes the ICC, but supports widening many local roads while opposing most any development.

Transportation is a frequent hot-button issue in District 4, especially around the ICC. Despite his ICC support, Kramer doesn’t share the SHA’s enthusiasm for ramps and bypasses everywhere. He opposed a plan to grade-separate Georgia Avenue and Norbeck Road into a “Los Angeles-looking freeway intersection”, which Cary Lamari supported. Kramer also fought (though supported at first) a another Georgia-Norbeck bypass plan SHA was once promoting to temporarily handle ICC traffic while the freeway temporarily ends at Georgia.

The most significant differences between Navarro and Kramer involve wider political issues beyond transportation. Navarro is more of a classic progressive, while Kramer is a fiscal conservative. The County Council is currently divided into two four-member factions, primarily around budget issues and union relations, though both include members formerly considered “pro-union” or “pro-business”. One Council faction, comprising Valerie Ervin, Nancy Floreen, Mike Knapp and George Leventhal, has endorsed Navarro, along with Congresswoman Donna Edwards and Delegate Anna Sol Gutierrez, while County Executive Ike Leggett and Councilmember Duchy Trachtenberg have endorsed Kramer.

As Maryland Politics Watch pointed out, these factions don’t correspond clearly with development issues, whether growth policy, the ICC, or whom to elect to the Planning Board. Ervin and Trachtenberg have been the Council’s strongest advocates for transit and transit-oriented issues in the past, and we’ve worked with Floreen and Leventhal on several issues.

Just Up the Pike’s Dan Reed is voting for Navarro, primarily based on her background and her desire for change. Kramer sees no “demand or need for directional change,” which Dan consideres “really scary.” It’s little surprise, therefore, that the editorially conservative Washington Post endorsed Kramer, primarily because he’s anti-union, like the Post, and supports the ICC, for which the Post has relentlessly cheered, calling all ICC opponents “anti-growth zealots”.

All of the Republicans support studying Route 29 light rail but oppose the Purple Line. Padula comes out ahead of his opponent Robin Ficker on whether to allow “fake” transit-oriented development. Green Party candidate George Gluck agrees with ACT on all issues, though they’re unsure of his position on Metro-focused communities.

For much more on the race, read Maryland Politics Watch. What other information should transit- and smart growth-oriented District 4 voters weigh in their decisions?