The region’s top elected officials continue to ride around in pricey sport utility vehicles despite tight budgets and a gloomy economic outlook.

D.C. Mayor Vince Gray gets the prize for driving the most costly vehicle, a “fully loaded” Lincoln Navigator, which has a sticker price of at least $10,000 more than both Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s Chevrolet Suburban. Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett has not one, but two SUVs. There’s the $47,698 Chevrolet Suburban driven by a part-time security guard that Leggett uses for official county business, and there’s also the $38,665 Jeep Cherokee Leggett uses when he drives himself.