Montgomery County Council primary elections

The primary elections for Montgomery County council will be held on Tuesday, September 10. Montgomery Blair High School is in district five, which includes Kensington, Silver Spring, Takoma Park and Wheaton. The point of the primary is to narrow the race down to one republican and one democratic candidate for the general election. The race is between six candidates; two republicans and four democrats. Current Montgomery County Councilman Derick P. Berlage will not be running for re-election.
The Republicans running, Denis Walsh and Raju Charles have similar plans for the county if elected. They both agree that the purple line is a high priority, and that education and improving the physical state of the county are very important.
Denis Walsh is a businessman and the owner of Flanagans Irish Pub in Bethesda. If elected, he says he plans to put his business experience to work by reducing monopolies and stopping over regulation of businesses.
Raju Charles, who has never held a public office, is concentrating on improving the school system. He also has plans on trying to lower the crime rate and drug abuse in this area.
Democrat Susan Rich, an animal rights activist and native of Silver Spring has plans, if elected, to deal with traffic congestion and poverty in the county. She hopes to improve bus services and strongly values the importance of good teachers in the school system.
The four Democrats running, Thomas E. Perez, Susan Rich, Cynthia Rubenstein and former Blair PTSA president Sally L. Sterbabach, all strongly support the purple line, because of their overall concern with traffic congestion due to the urban background of the county. Perez and Sterbach claims improving traffic as their top priority. Reubenstein has expressed strong opinion about revitalizing the community, and Sterbach has a personal focus on public schools and the community due to her background as an activist and her former PTSA position. Perez and Rich have concentration on economic development, with concerns on the poverty in parts of the county.