Candidates Line Up for Lawton's Seat in District 18

The field of candidates vying for the District 18 seat of former Montgomery delegate Jane Lawton is taking shape. Five candidates - four men and one woman - have applied to the county Democratic Central Committee, which will vote Tuesday night to nominate a successor to Lawton, who died of an apparent heart attack on Nov. 29.

The candidates include: the committee's Vice chairman Al Carr of Kensington; George T. English, a reitred economist and Democratic activist from Silver Spring; Rick Kessler, a lobbyist and former Congressional staffer of Silver Spring; Fredric C. Cooper, a community development manager of Silver Spring; and Rosalyn Woodward Pelles, a labor advocate from Silver Spring.

Two other candidates - Dana Beyer, an aide to Council member Duchy Trachtenberg and Oscar Ramirez, a central committee member - have withdrawn from the race, according to Milt Minneman, a committee spokesman.

There's still time for the field to change. Candidates have until 5 p.m. tonight to apply. The 23 voting members of the committee will meet Tuesday night to question the candidates before making its decision.

Committee members have been getting a crush of calls and e-mail messages from people lobbying on behalf of Carr, Kessler and Pelles.