Elections

MCEA’s Political Action and Legislative Support (PALS) Committee is always seeking member involvement.  The PALS Committee implements the political action activities of MCEA. It conducts one of the most thorough candidate screening processes of any organization in the county. Members of this committee work to hold elected officials accountable and involve MCEA members in political action year round.  During the Maryland legislative session, the committee organizes lobby trips to Annapolis. Contact co-chairs Doug Prouty at dprouty@mcea.nea.org or Abby Hendrix at abby.hendrix@gmail.com for more information.

MCEA’s Candidate Recommendation Process
Recommendations are made by the MCEA Representative Assembly after consideration by the MCEA Political Ac­tion and Legislative Support (PALS) Com­mittee and the MCEA Board of Directors. The Representative Assembly consists of educators who are elected at each school and office. These reps solicit input from their staff before making decisions. For a thorough explanation of our process, read MCEA Candidate Recommendation Process (PDF).   Engaging in the political process ensures that the recom­mended candidate will be accessible to us and will give us every opportunity to pres­ent our side of the issues. Additionally, the recommendation process is designed to identify candidates who are already supportive of public education and edu­cators. Thus, it is much more likely that they will vote in support of education as a matter of personal ideology. And, if they are not knowledgeable on a certain issue, we will have the accessibility to educate them before the vote.

Political Action Contributions
Dues money is not used to influence voters to support specific candidates. If you wish to do so, you can contribute separately through payroll deduction to MCEA’s Fund for Chil­dren and Public Education. The Fund sponsors distribution of MCEA’s well known “Apple Ballot”. How much or whether you contribute is up to you. Your participation in no way affects your member­ship or status in the union. Contributions are not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.  If you would like to contribute to the Fund for Children and Public Education, print and fill out the following form and send it back to MCEA.

Upcoming Elections
In Maryland, statewide elections are held every two years and are called either Presidential Elections or Gubernatorial Elections. 

In Presidential Election Years (e.g. 2008, 2012), the following offices are elected:

  • U.S. President and Vice-President
  • U.S. Senator (if the six year term of either Senator is expiring; e.g. Barbara Mikulski is up for re-election in 2010, while Ben Cardin's term will be up again in 2012)
  • U.S. Congressional Representatives
  • Three members of the Montgomery County Board of Education

In Gubernatorial Election Years (e.g. 2006, 2010), the following offices are elected:

  • U.S. Senator (if applicable, see above)
  • U.S. Congressional Representatives
  • Governor and Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
  • Comptroller
  • Attorney General
  • State Senators
  • State Delegates
  • State's Attorney
  • County Executive
  • All nine members of the County Council
  • Four members of the Montgomery County Board of Education