Former Montgomery County, Md. council member Valerie Ervin. (Twitter Photo)
Former Montgomery County, Md. council member Valerie Ervin has halted her campaign for the House of Representatives seat in the state’s 8th District.
Ervin, the first Black woman elected to Montgomery County’s council, cited a lack of funds as the reason for ending her campaign.
In an e-mail sent to supporters, the Democrat detailed the struggle she faced while attempting to get her campaign moving.
“In politics today, fundraising is the sign of a campaign’s viability,” she wrote. “Not your ideas about how to serve your constituents, not your track record of service, not even the groundswell of grassroots support—but your ability to raise money. And unfortunately, I just haven’t been able to raise enough.”
Ervin announced July 1 that she would run for the seat after its current holder, Democratic Rep. Chris Van Hollen, began a campaign for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Barbara Mikulski. Mikulski plans to retire when her term ends.
Ervin served on the Montgomery County Council from 2006 until 2014. She left the Council to become the executive director of the New York-based Center for Working Families, where she remained for 14 months.
Ervin has not detailed her future plans. State Sen. Jamie Raskin, William Jawando, State Dels. Kumar Barve and Ana Sol Gutierrez, and Kathleen Matthews remain in the race for the seat.