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September 1, 2023 – GAITHERSBURG, MD – By Pieter Friedrich
Yamil Hernández launched his campaign for Gaithersburg City Council today with a cheeky lego-block digital video proving that creativity in politics is not dead after all.
“Gaithersburg welcomed me with open arms,” Hernández says in the video. “This is where I met my wife, created a business, made a home, and found belonging. I want every resident to experience the same warmth, opportunity, and sense of community that I found here. That’s why I’m asking for your vote!”
In his video, Yamil takes viewers on a digital journey through the city as he discusses several pressing issues on the minds of Gaithersburg residents. As of publishing time, Hernández’s video already had over 19,000 views on Twitter/X.
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To view the video click here: https://youtu.be/HJJa8kqLGOw.
Hernández’s Background
Originally from Cuba, the Puerto Rico-born Hernández is a self-made entrepreneur whose life on the American mainland began with federal food aid which included “government cheese.” A former coast guard officer, Hernández has been building a campaign for nearly a year. He is rumored to already have several major endorsements under his belt. He previously ran for city council in 2021.
Hernández belongs to Montgomery County’s “Golden Age” Generation, when social mobility was the county’s greatest asset. The son of a Seventh Day Adventist preacher, he attended Montgomery College, the University of Maryland, and finally the University of Maryland Global Campus, where he earned an MBA before starting a multi-million dollar for-profit life sciences corporation. Gaithersburg and Rockville are major hubs for the life sciences, which is currently MoCo’s only major industrial base. The county lost thousands of middle class industrial jobs during the Great Recession, and at more than one point recently had half of its retail space vacant of willing tenants. Three years ago, the smaller Prince George’s County surpassed MoCo as Maryland’s top job creator.
More on MoCo
Both Axios and the Washington Post have described MoCo as in “decline” given how violent crime, corruption scandals, antisemitism and Islamophobia have dominated its local and national news coverage for well over half a decade. By way of example: Montgomery County Public Schools voted to remove all religious holidays from the school calendar, in an effort to avoid granting a holiday to its Muslim students. The county’s most prominent elected official, Lt. Governor Aruna Miller, has strong ties to a hate movement which has a history with the Nazis.
See Hope Again
“Yamil has said more than once that he hopes to break through the noise to help people see hope in our future again,” says one source close to his campaign. The source also suggested Hernández is likely eying Gaithersburg as a stepping stone for a nascent political career.
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Hernández is a well known-ally of Gaithersburg City Councilmembers Robert Wu and Neil Harris. The two, alongside Councilmember Jim McNulty, form the city’s “good governance” bloc. Wu, a lawyer and army veteran who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, has been rumored as a favorite to run for the vacant Congressional District 6. Former Obama administration official and gubernatorial candidate Krishanti Vignarajah is also rumored to run.
Maryland Congressional District 6
Currently, former Gaithersburg councilmember Laurie Anne Sayles is running for the seat, as is Maryland Delegate Joseph Vogel. Vogel has been groomed and mentored for higher office by State Senator Cheryl Kagan (D-17), while Sayles was hand-picked for her rise to power by former County Executive Ike Leggett. Wu and Vignarajah are seen as the most promising national fundraisers in the field, should they run. Nearly a dozen Democrats have signaled their intentions to run for CD-6, but few have raised substantial funds or secured any major endorsements. Hernández has not endorsed any candidate for Congress.
More on City of Gaithersburg Elections
Candidates for the 2023 municipal election were officially certified this week by the City of Gaithersburg’s Board of Supervisors of Elections (BOSE).
You can see a writeup on who is running by MoCo360 here.
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