This past election, voters were presented with questions about senators, abortion access, and term limits in Montgomery County. Question A on the ballot asked about limiting the number of terms that a county executive can serve consecutively.
Montgomery County residents voted to shorten the term limits for the county executive from three consecutive terms to two consecutive terms. This resolution passed with 68% of the vote. In 2016, the consecutive term limit was reduced to three, a measure which won with 69% of the vote at the time.
A county executive is responsible for managing the day-to-day operations of the county government, as well as passing bills that the city council approved, managing county government agencies, finances, projects, and services, and appointing the sheriff, county administrator, judges, and other officials. The current county executive for Montgomery County is Marc Elrich, a democrat. Elrich is currently serving his second consecutive term as county executive. With this recent development, Elrich is not eligible for reelection in 2026. He is not expected to run for reelection in 2030, largely because he will be 77 years old.
Some believe that this was a strategic move made by Reardon Sullivan and the Committee for Better Government. Sullivan was the Montgomery County GOP Chair and ran for county executive in 2022, but lost to Elrich. The Committee for Better Government submitted a petition with over 10,000 signatures on it to add the referendum to the ballot. Elrich claims that this is a targeted attack on his position, but Sullivan denies all of these claims.
It is unclear if or how Elrich will combat this, but as it currently stands, Montgomery County will have a new county executive come 2026.
