Money in MoCo's District 4 Primary Race

Montgomery County's special election to pick Marilyn Praisner's successor on the County Council is next Tuesday, but campaign finance reports released this week reveal behind-the-scenes loyalties from last month's primary.

In the Democratic contest, Praisner's widower, Don, defeated School Board President Nancy Navarro with 44 percent of the vote. But the reports filed with the state Board of Elections show that Navarro raised more than three times as much money as Praisner. She collected $104,221 compared with Praisner's $27,145.

Praisner was backed by County Executive Isiah Leggett and four council members - Phil Andrews, Roger Berliner, Marc Elrich and Duchy Trachtenberg. The only other council member to pubicly take sides was Valerie Ervin, who had served on the school board with Navarro. But the reports show that Navarro also received donations from Council members George Leventhal and Nancy Floreen.

Praisner refused to accept contributions from development interests. Among Navarro's donors were developers Nanci Porten of Porten Homes, Norman Dreyfuss of IDI Management Inc. and several members of the Lerner family, in addition to local land use attorneys, such as Stephen Elmendorf, Stephen Orens and William Kominers.