Omar Lazo Wins Montgomery County’s At-Large School Board Seat

Omar Lazo has won the at-large seat on the Montgomery County Board of Education, defeating Brenda M. Diaz, according to unofficial results from the State Board of Elections. Lazo had 155,354 votes (51.5%) to Diaz’s 144,345 (47.8%) as of 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, a lead of 11,009 votes, according to the board’s Montgomery County results page.

Moderately MOCO calls a race when the trailing candidate can no longer realistically catch up with the ballots left. To pull even, Diaz would need roughly 74% to 88% of the votes in this race on every ballot still out, including our estimate of the mail-in ballots still to be counted and provisional ballots; the range depends mostly on how many provisional ballots are counted. She has 48.2% of the two-candidate vote overall, and won about 42%, 41%, 40% and 41% of the two-candidate vote in the four mail-in counts since election night. The count posted at 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 13, added 1,252 votes to Lazo’s lead: 4,298 for Lazo and 3,046 for Diaz (58.5% of the two-candidate vote). The results stay unofficial until they are certified. The canvass of provisional ballots was scheduled to begin Nov. 12, according to a State Board of Elections news release (page 2).

Vote type	Omar Lazo	Brenda M. Diaz
Early voting	41,926	37,691
Election Day	71,585	69,853
Mail-in (counted so far)	41,843	36,801
Provisional	Not yet counted	Not yet counted
Total	155,354	144,345

What is still out

The state’s most recent mail-in ballot report, as of Nov. 12, shows 110,375 mail-in ballots received in Montgomery County. About 98,400 mail-in ballots have been counted so far, based on the mail-in total in the governor’s race on the county results page, which leaves roughly 12,000 received ballots still to be counted. That is our estimate from the state’s figures, not a number the state reports.

The deadline for mail-in ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 to arrive was 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 13, under state regulations. The Montgomery County Board of Elections scheduled its provisional ballot canvass to begin Thursday, Nov. 12, according to its canvass schedule, which says the dates are subject to change.

Moderately MOCO followed the count in updates after the Nov. 5 mail-in count, the Nov. 7 mail-in count and the Nov. 12 mail-in count, and our video explainer walks through the math behind calling a close race. Our election night interview with Lazo covers his priorities.

The race appears on the ballot without party labels, and every Montgomery County voter could vote in it.

The candidates

Omar Lazo is a small business owner, a Montgomery College trustee and the father of three MCPS students, according to his Moderately MOCO candidate questionnaire, where he listed his party as Democrat.

Brenda M. Diaz is a former MCPS teacher who listed her party as unaffiliated in her Moderately MOCO candidate questionnaire. Diaz ran for the District 2 seat in 2024 and lost to Natalie Zimmerman, 56.62% to 42.74%, according to official 2024 results.

In the June primary, Lazo received 46,248 votes (34.89%) and Diaz received 39,094 (29.49%), according to official primary results. Wylea Chase (19.01%) and Tiffany E. Wicks (16.60%) also ran. Lazo and Diaz, the top two finishers, advanced to November.

What the seat does

The Board of Education has seven elected members and a student member, under state law. Elected members serve four-year terms starting Dec. 1 after their election. The board’s two at-large members may live anywhere in the county. The board sets policy for MCPS and acts on its budgets, according to the board’s website.

Karla Silvestre holds the at-large seat now, and her term expires in 2026, according to the board’s member page. Silvestre ran for County Council at-large this year. The latest numbers in every Montgomery County race are on our live results page.

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