The Montgomery County Board of Elections has completed vote counting for the 2026 primary elections and unanimously certified the county’s 2026 Primary Election results on Wednesday, July 8.
According to the Board of Elections, a total of 161,146 ballots were cast and counted in Montgomery County, representing 22.99% of eligible voters.
Maryland law requires mail-in ballots to be postmarked by Election Day and received by 10am on the second Friday after the election, or the following business day when that Friday is a holiday. Certification can only take place after all eligible ballots have been received and processed, and after pre-certification audits are completed.
The Official Pre-Election Canvass began on June 1, as required by law, and continued through Tuesday, July 7. During that period, timely eligible mail-in ballots and researched provisional ballots were reviewed and tallied once verified.
Among the certified local results, Will Jawando won the Democratic primary for County Executive with 52,738 votes, followed by Andrew Friedson with 44,518 votes and Evan Glass with 29,005 votes. Esther Wells won the Republican primary for County Executive with 6,850 votes.
In the Democratic County Council At-Large race, the four certified winners were Marc Elrich with 66,702 votes, Laurie-Anne Sayles with 57,406 votes, Scott Evan Goldberg with 53,901 votes, and Karla Silvestre with 47,395 votes. Sherwin Wells won the Republican At-Large primary.
In the district County Council races, the Democratic winners were Julie Yang in District 1, Marilyn Balcombe in District 2, Jud Ashman in District 3, Kate Stewart in District 4, Kristin Mink in District 5, Natali Fani-González in District 6, and Dawn Luedtke in District 7.
For Board of Education At-Large, Omar Lazo and Brenda M. Diaz advanced as the top two vote-getters. In Board of Education District 3, Sally A. McCarthy and Cassandra “Cassi” Sung advanced.
Board President David Naimon credited Election Director Boris Brajkovic, Board members, staff, election workers, and election judges for their work throughout the process. Naimon said the Board appreciated “all of the planning and hard work that made the entire election process work well for county voters.”
