Updated: Unofficial results show political newcomers defeating Frederick County Council president, vice president
Jul. 30—The Frederick County Council president lost her reelection bid by three votes, and both she and the council's vice president lost to first-time candidates, according to unofficial primary election results from Friday, the final day of ballot counting.
Council President M.C. Keegan-Ayer lost the Democratic nomination for the council's District 3 seat to Jazmin Di Cola, a business owner and community advocate. District 3 encompasses the west side of Frederick.
Di Cola received 2,300 votes — or 50.03% — unofficial results from the Frederick County Board of Elections show.
Keegan-Ayer, who has been the council's president since 2018, got 2,297 — or 49.97%.
"My constituents, they're looking for change," Di Cola said in a phone interview with the News-Post on Friday.
Di Cola said she campaigned with a promise to use a seat on the council to voice concerns from people — including working families, Spanish speakers, immigrant communities and women — who have felt underrepresented and unheard in the county government.
"We wanted a voice, an authentic voice," she said.
Keegan-Ayer could not immediately be reached for comment by call or text message on Friday.
A candidate can request a recount under Maryland state law, Nikki Baines Charlson, the deputy administrator for the Maryland State Board of Elections, said in a phone interview with the News-Post on Friday. There are no automatic recounts based on certain thresholds.
A candidate who requests a recount must post a bond to pay for it, however there is no charge for the recount under certain conditions, such as if a recount leads to a change in results or if the difference between the first- and second-place finishers is within 0.25%, according to Maryland law.
The recount petition must be filed within three days after a local board of elections certifies the results.
Frederick County election officials plan to certify the primary results on Monday, Elections Director Barbara Wagner said. By that timetable, Keegan-Ayer would have until Thursday to request a recount.
If the unofficial results hold, Di Cola will advance to the Nov. 8 general election to face former Frederick Alderman Shelley Aloi, who ran unopposed for the Republican nomination. Aloi is the executive director of the Marriage Resource Center of Frederick County Inc.
The second member of the County Council's leadership duo, Vice President Michael Blue, lost the Republican nomination for the District 5 seat to 18-year-old Mason Carter, who helped form a Republican club at Walkersville High School before graduating in May.
Carter received 2,843 votes, or 53.5%, and Blue received 2,473, or 46.5%, unofficial results show.
Blue said in a phone interview with the News-Post on Friday that he was considering running as a write-in candidate in the general election. He said that an exploratory committee would examine the district's voter data to determine what his chances of winning could be, and he planned to announce whether he would pursue a write-in candidacy in the coming weeks.
But under state law, a candidate who is defeated in a primary election may not file as a write-in candidate in the next general election, Henry Fawell, of Campfire Communications, wrote in an email Friday on behalf of the State Board of Elections.
Blue said he underestimated Carter's ability to get out the far-right Republican vote in District 5, which includes areas of the county north of Frederick.
Blue, who owns Brownie's Auto Repair in Walkersville, also said he overestimated how little voters would consider a candidate's political experience when casting their vote.
"Not one vote my opponent got had anything to do with his experience. And that's sad," Blue said.
Carter said in a phone interview with the News-Post on Friday that people have said to him they were surprised by his primary victory, especially considering his age and that he was running against the council's vice president.
"We had to hold [Blue] accountable," Carter said. "He campaigned [previously] like a staunch conservative, and he didn't legislate like one."
Blue, though, said he is a moderate Republican.
Carter will face first-time candidate Julianna Lufkin in the general election. Lufkin, a self-employed teacher of homeschool enrichment classes, ran unopposed for the Democratic nomination.
A Republican has been elected to represent District 5 on the council each of the last two elections.
Blue won in 2018 with 12,010 votes, or 63.8%. In 2014, Kirby Delauter — who Carter has said is one of his political influences — won with 8,730 votes, or 54.7%.
Frederick County adopted a charter form of government, with a County Council that legislates and a separate executive branch headed by the county executive, in 2014. Previously, the now defunct Board of County Commissioners comprised five elected members who each represented the county at-large.
The Board of Elections' final tally also showed which eight of the 16 candidates for the county Board of Education will advance to the general election.
The four "apple ballot" candidates — incumbent Karen Yoho, Rae Gallagher, Dean Rose and Ysela Bravo, whom the unions representing Frederick County Public Schools' employees have endorsed — received the most votes in the race. Yoho was the top vote-getter, with 19,707, or 11.8%.
Nancy Allen and Cindy Rose, both of whom are part of the Education Not Indoctrination slate, were fifth and sixth in the race, respectively.
The slate is a conservative group seeking to take control of the seven-member school board and wield influence over how the school system teaches students about subjects such as racism, sexuality and health.
Board member Liz Barrett was seventh and Olivia Angolia, who is also part of the Education Not Indoctrination slate, was eighth.
David Brooks finished ninth. The fourth member of the slate, Mark Joannides, finished 10th.
Below are all of the unofficial tallies the county Board of Elections released after finishing its ballot counting on Friday (winners for races entirely decided in Frederick County are in bold).
GOVERNOR
(Frederick County results only)
Republicans
Dan Cox: 10,898
Kelly Schulz: 9,684
Robin Ficker: 419
Joe Werner: 229
Democrats
Tom Perez: 8,105
Wes Moore: 5,848
Peter Franchot: 4,382
John King: 1,395
Doug Gansler: 1,288
Ashwani Jain: 896
Rushern Baker (withdrew from race): 785
Jon Baron: 714
Jerome Segal: 206
Ralph Jaffe: 150
COMPTROLLER
(Frederick County results only)
Republican
Barry Glassman: 16,337
Democrats
Brooke Lierman: 17,244
Tim Adams: 4,874
ATTORNEY GENERAL
(Frederick County results only)
Republicans
Michael Peroutka: 8,948
Jim Shalleck: 7,907
Democrats
Katie Curran O'Malley: 12,946
Anthony Brown: 10,186
U.S. SENATOR
(Frederick County results only)
Republicans
Chris Chaffee: 3,146
John Thormann: 2,753
Lorie Friend: 2,404
Joseph Perez: 2,146
George Davis: 1,277
Reba Hawkins: 1,158
James Tarantin: 1,158
Jon McGreevey: 1,148
Todd Puglisi: 951
Nnabu Eze: 784
Democrats
Chris Van Hollen: 19,398
Michelle Smith: 4,096
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE , DISTRICT 6
(Frederick County results only)
Republicans
Neil Parrott: 10,464
Matthew Foldi: 3,339
Mariela Roca: 2,293
Colt Black: 2,023
Jonathan Jenkins: 1,401
Robert Poissonnier: 132
Democrats
David Trone: 17,984
Ben Smilowitz: 4,035
George Gluck: 1,127
STATE SENATOR, DISTRICT 2
(Frederick County results only)
Republican
Paul Corderman: 1,138
Democrat
Shawn Demetrious Perry: 565
STATE SENATOR, DISTRICT 3
Republican
Angela Ariel McIntosh: 4,199
Democrat
Karen Lewis Young: 8,137
Jay Mason: 3,336
STATE SENATOR, DISTRICT 4
Republicans
William "Bill" Folden: 9,069
Stephen Barrett: 3,556
Democrat
Carleah Summers: 8,486
STATE SENATOR, DISTRICT 5
(Frederick County results only)
Republican
Justin Ready: 290
Democrat
none
HOUSE OF DELEGATES, DISTRICT 2A (Two seats)
(Frederick County results only)
Republicans
William Valentine: 964
William Wivell: 802
Bradley Belmont: 326
Seth Edward Wilson: 230
Democrat
none
HOUSE OF DELEGATES, DISTRICT 3 (Three seats)
Republicans
Justin Wages: 3,899
Kathy Diener: 3,818
Democrats
Ken Kerr: 5,640
Kris Fair: 5,608
Karen Simpson: 4,448
Josh Bokee: 3,622
Tarolyn Thrasher: 3,496
William "Billy" Reid: 3,300
Stephen Slater: 2,371
HOUSE OF DELEGATES, DISTRICT 4 (Three seats)
Republicans
Jesse Pippy: 10,460
April Fleming Miller: 8,064
Barrie Ciliberti: 7,367
Heath Barnes: 5,403
Democrats
Andrew Duck: 7,784
Millicent Hall: 7,725
Brandon Duck: 7,157
HOUSE OF DELEGATES, DISTRICT 5 (Two seats)
(Frederick County results only)
Republicans
April Rose: 203
Christopher Eric Bouchat: 187
Chris Tomlinson: 165
Sallie Taylor: 72
Stephen Wantz: 58
Dennis Frazier: 55
Scott Willens: 48
Scott Jendrek: 37
Democrats
none
FREDERICK COUNTY EXECUTIVE
Republican
Michael Hough: 17,227
Democrats
Jessica Fitzwater: 13,537
Kai Hagen: 6,752
Daryl Boffman: 2,925
FREDERICK COUNTY COUNCIL, AT LARGE (Two seats)
Republicans
Philip Dacey: 12,571
Tony Chmelik: 9,419
Dylan Diggs: 8,631
Democrats
Brad Young: 17,447
Renee Knapp: 17,347
FREDERICK COUNTY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 1
Republicans
John Distell: 2,182
Bill Miskell: 1,871
Democrat
Jerry Donald: 4,311
FREDERICK COUNTY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 2
Republicans
Steven McKay: 2,322
Casie Chang: 1,777
Democrat
Lisa Jarosinski: 3,386
FREDERICK COUNTY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 3
Republican
Shelley Aloi: 1,789
Democrats
Jazmin Di Cola: 2,300
M.C. Keegan-Ayer: 2,297
FREDERICK COUNTY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 4
Republicans
John Fer: 964
Chaz Packan: 715
Steve Valentino: 610
Democrats
Kavonte Duckett: 2,019
Betty Law: 1,456
John Funderburk: 950
Nicholas Augustine: 565
FREDERICK COUNTY COUNCIL, DISTRICT 5
Republicans
Mason Carter: 2,842
Michael Blue: 2,473
Democrat
Julianna Lufkin: 2,449
FREDERICK COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE
Republican/Democrat
Kathleen Diane English: 15,775 from Republicans, 18,021 from Democrats
FREDERICK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY
Republican
Charlie Smith: 16,855
Democrat
none
FREDERICK COUNTY CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
Republican
Sandra Dalton: 16,721
Democrat
Megan LeRoux: 18,182
FREDERICK COUNTY REGISTER OF WILLS
Republicans
Mary Rolle: 11,811
Nate Wilson: 5,706
Democrat
Chris Manners: 18,007
FREDERICK COUNTY JUDGE OF THE ORPHAN'S COURT (Three seats)
Republicans
Jimmy Trout: 14,027
Susan Wilson: 13,459
Wesley Gregory: 12,970
Democrats
Bonnie Nicholson: 16,484
Michael Powell: 15,544
Marvin Schwab: 14,701
FREDERICK COUNTY SHERIFF
Republican
Chuck Jenkins: 18,633
Democrats
Karl Bickel: 14,475
Daniel Thomas McDowell: 7,054
FREDERICK COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION (Four seats; top eight advance to general election)
Karen Yoho: 19,707
Rae Gallagher: 18,559
Dean Rose: 17,910
Ysela Bravo: 16,941
Nancy Allen: 13,340
Cindy Rose: 12,318
Liz Barrett: 12,173
Olivia Angolia: 10,417
David Brooks: 10,124
Mark Joannides: 9,956
April Marie Montgomery: 5,991
Heather Michelle Fletcher: 5,650
Ashley Nieves: 5,002
Tiffany Noble: 4,136
Justi Thomas: 2,336
Rayna Remondini: 2,254
REPUBLICAN CENTRAL COMMITTEE (Vote for nine)
Jesse Pippy: 11,477
Dylan Diggs 8,632
Karen Dacey: 8,192
Colt Black: 7,744
Pamela Ciliberti: 7,632
Rebecca Chmelik: 7,627
Shelley Aloi: 6,809
Jason Miller: 6,008
Kelly McGuire: 5,385
Patricia "Patti" Price: 4,469
John Fer: 4,014
Kevin Buker: 3,844
James "Mr. Boomstick" Grose: 3,660
Rob Gossweiler: 3,355
Kat Harper: 3,274
Teresa Mena: 3,253
Connie Onspaugh: 2,897
Ralph Siegrist: 2,789
Cary Moorman: 2,301
DEMOCRATIC CENTRAL COMMITTEE (Vote for 13)
Mari Lee: 13,168
Shelly Beaird-Francois: 12,658
Violet Williams: 12,495
Deb Reynolds: 11,921
Regan Riley: 11,779
Antonio Bowens: 11,766
Thomas Slater: 11,433
Josh Cramer: 10,773
McCamie DeArmon Patterson: 10,561
Thomas Jackson: 10,282
Glenn Edward Blanchard: 10,060
Robert Van Rens: 9,649
Alexander Dumm: 9,631
Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan
Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan
