Montgomery County voters will face a decision this November on whether to reduce the county executive’s term limit to two terms. The Montgomery County Education Association (MCEA) teachers’ union, representing 14,000 educators in MCPS, has announced that it oppose Question A that, if passed, would amend the County Charter to reduce the County Executive’s term limits from three consecutive terms to two.
Earlier this summer the Montgomery County Council voted to add a referendum for a two-term limit to the November 5 general election ballot. While doing so, council members expressed concerns about the citizen-led process that allows such initiatives to make it onto the ballot. Currently, the county executive can serve three four-year terms, totaling 12 years. This new referendum is backed by the Committee for Better Government, led by former Montgomery County Republican Party chair and 2022 GOP county executive nominee, Reardon Sullivan. The MCEA statement can be seen below:
“The Montgomery County Education Association, representing 14,000 educators in MCPS, opposes Question A that, if passed, would amend the County Charter to reduce the County Executive’s term limits from three consecutive terms to two. The use of the ballot initiative process is essential in a healthy democracy and should be available to all voters to hold elected officials accountable. We do not question the use of the ballot initiative process, but rather the motives of this ballot initiative’s proponents, who seek to punish political enemies after losing fairly at the ballot box.
The main backers of this ballot initiative aren’t motivated by good policy. Instead, they are weaponizing the ballot initiative process into a referendum on an already term-limited incumbent – whom voters will get to decide to reelect or not in 2026. “Setting partisan politics aside, the Montgomery County Executive is already a term-limited position; no county executive is empowered to serve for life,” said MCEA President David Stein. “Rather than changing the rules of the game by further reducing the terms the officer can hold through a ballot initiative, let’s allow the electorate to decide at the ballot box in 2026. MCEA urges voters to vote against Question A.”