The candidates to replace Montgomery County Del. Jane Lawton at the Maryland State House will have the chance to make their case this weekend.
Lawton, who died last week, represented District 18 in Montgomery County, which covers Wheaton and Chevy Chase. Now, the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee has a window of 30 days to find a replacement.
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Lawton, a Democrat, died suddenly on Nov. 29 of an apparent heart attack. Her term ends January 2011.
Sunday’s forum starts 7:30 p.m. at the Leland Center in Chevy Chase.
The meeting is informal, so attendance of candidates is not required but encouraged, said Milton Minneman, communications directorand member of the committee.
On Tuesday, the committee will hold a formal interview with each candidate and vote afterward.
The candidate must have at least 12 of the committee’s 23 total votes. The name of the winner will be sent to Gov. Martin O’Malley, who will appoint Lawton’s replacement.
Minneman said that historical precedent holds that O’Malley will appoint whomever the committee selects — as long as the candidate is legally eligible.
“There’s no discretion unless the person is not from the district,” Minneman said.
Three people had applied for Lawton’s vacancy as of Wednesday afternoon: Alfred Carr, Oscar Ramirez and Dana Beyer.
Carr, of Kingston, is the Democratic precinct vice chairman for District 18. Ramirez, of Silver Spring, is a member of the central committee. Beyer, of Chevy Chase, is senior policy and legislative adviser to Montgomery Councilwoman Duchy Trachtenberg.
A district resident may formally apply at the committee’s Kensington office no later than 5 p.m. Monday.
Lawton first reached Annapolis in 2005, when John Hurson resigned and she applied for the position in a MCDCC-hosted forum. She won re-election last November.
