Ashman Heads to County Council; Lisa Henderson Set to Become Gaithersburg Mayor Nov. 9

Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman won the Montgomery County Council District 3 seat on Nov. 3, which means the city is about to change mayors. Under a plan the city announced in October, City Council Member Lisa Henderson is expected to be sworn in as mayor at a special session on Monday, Nov. 9, according to a City of Gaithersburg announcement.

Ashman had 33,392 votes (82.65%) to Republican Ricky Fai Mui’s 6,898 (17.07%), with all 39 Election Day precincts in the district reported, according to unofficial State Board of Elections results last refreshed at 1:45 a.m. Nov. 4. Moderately MOCO called the District 3 race on election night. The results are unofficial until the county finishes counting mail-in and provisional ballots and certifies them.

What happens on Nov. 9

Ashman announced his conditional resignation as mayor at the City Council’s Sept. 8 meeting, according to the meeting minutes (page 6). Bethesda Magazine reported, citing a city press release, that the resignation takes effect Nov. 9 only if he won the Nov. 3 election. Montgomery Community Media also reported the Nov. 9 effective date.

The City Council conditionally selected Henderson as mayor in October, contingent on Ashman’s election, the city said in its Oct. 6 announcement. Moderately MOCO reported on that selection the same day.

Henderson’s move opens her own seat on the five-member City Council. The council has selected Alyssa Todaro Krumlauf to fill it, and Krumlauf will be sworn in at the same Nov. 9 special session, according to a city announcement posted Oct. 28. Krumlauf lives in Woodland Hills and has chaired the city’s Youth Enrichment Committee since 2025, according to the city.

The Nov. 9 special session is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers at 16 South Summit Avenue, according to the city’s meeting portal.

Henderson has served on the City Council since 2021 and was its vice president from 2022 to 2023, according to her city biography. She works as a program director for Montgomery County Government.

What the city charter says

Gaithersburg’s charter has the City Council, not voters, fill a vacant mayor’s office. “In case of a vacancy in the office of mayor or councilmen for any reason, a majority of the remaining members of the council shall elect some qualified person to fill such vacancy,” reads Section 35 of the City Charter.

Residents can force a special election instead. Under Section 35, a petition signed by at least 20% of the city’s registered voters must be received within 30 days of an appointment. A special election would then be held within 60 days of the petition being certified, and the appointee would serve provisionally until it is held.

Without a petition, both appointees serve until the next city election, on Nov. 2, 2027, according to the city’s elections page. The mayor elected that year will serve two years, finishing the four-year term that began in 2025, the city said in its Oct. 6 announcement. Section 35 also puts the rest of any unexpired term on the ballot at the next general election. Henderson won her current Council term in November 2025, so the two years left on it would go before voters in 2027 as well.

Neil Harris is the City Council’s vice president, according to the city’s Mayor and City Council biographies page. Under Section 8 of the charter, the mayor presides over the council, and the vice president acts as president when the mayor is absent.

Why Ashman cannot keep both jobs

“No member of the Council shall hold any other office of profit in state, county or municipal government,” reads Section 102 of the Montgomery County Charter.

New County Council terms begin “at noon on the first Monday of December next following the regular election,” under Section 105 of the County Charter. This year that is Monday, Dec. 7, four weeks after Ashman’s resignation as mayor is set to take effect.

Ashman’s 12 years as mayor

Ashman served on the City Council from 2007 to 2014 and has been mayor since 2014, according to his city biography. He became mayor the same way Henderson is about to: in 2014 the City Council selected him to replace Sidney Katz after Katz won the District 3 County Council seat, Moderately MOCO reported in October. Katz is term-limited, which opened the seat Ashman won on Nov. 3.

Ashman won his current four-year term as mayor in November 2025 with 73.45% of the vote, according to the city’s certified 2025 results.

In the city’s Oct. 6 announcement, Ashman said that “if I’m elected to the County Council, I’ll leave knowing the City is in the very best of hands – with Lisa Henderson at the helm and an outstanding City Council at her side.”

Gaithersburg had an estimated 71,113 residents on July 1, 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2025 population estimates for Maryland cities and towns. The Census Bureau counts every resident only once every 10 years; figures in between are estimates.

Results for every county race are on our live results page.

Still unanswered

• Will the City Council take a formal vote under Section 35 on Nov. 9, since the October selections were conditional?
• Does Ashman’s resignation take effect Nov. 9 even though the county will not have certified the District 3 result by then?
• On what date does the 30-day petition window start for each appointment, and how many signatures would 20% of the city’s registered voters be?

We have not yet put these questions to the City of Gaithersburg; this story will be updated with any response.

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