Bethesda, Md. – Building on a significant fundraising advantage from the campaign’s first public reports in January, District 1 County Council Candidate Andrew Friedson reported raising $108,000 since January 11th, bringing the first-time candidate’s fundraising total for the campaign to $317,000 raised from 1,073 contributions. Last week, Friedson received the coveted Washington Post endorsement in the highly competitive District 1 race that runs along the Potomac River in southwest Montgomery County. Noting the groundswell of grassroots support for Andrew’s message of “Easing the Squeeze” on Montgomery County families, the Friedson Campaign announced that 73 percent of the contributions received since January came in at $150 and under.

            “Our momentum continues to build on this campaign as we head into the closing weeks of this campaign about our community and our future,” Friedson said. “Because more than 1000 strong are part of it, we are in a position to reach out to more people to grow it. That’s what our campaign is all about,” Friedson said.

“I am so amazed by the overwhelming enthusiasm we’ve seen for Andrew’s vision to Ease the Montgomery County Squeeze on our schools, our roads, and our families,” said Johanna Berkson, Friedson’s Campaign Chair. “Every day on this campaign, we’re seeing the energy behind Andrew’s vision, values, and track record of results, and his commitment to engaging new people in the political process and to re-engaging those who’ve lost faith that government can actually work to improve lives.”
            Noting that “public service requires personal sacrifice,” Friedson left his role as Senior Policy Advisor for the Comptroller of Maryland after Labor Day to pursue the District One Council race full-time. In addition to The Washington Post, the 32 year-old Bethesda resident and Potomac native has been endorsed by the Baltimore-Washington Laborers District Council, Run for Something, Comptroller Peter Franchot, Senators Brian Feldman and Craig Zucker, Delegate Ariana Kelly, former three-term County Executive Doug Duncan, former Congressman C. Thomas McMillen, Montgomery County Register of Wills Joe Griffin, Poolesville Commissioner Valaree Dickerson, former NARAL Pro-Choice America National Board Chair Rosalyn Levy Jonas, among others.

            A lifelong Montgomery County resident and University of Maryland graduate, Friedson attended Wayside, Hoover and Churchill public schools. The former senior policy advisor for Comptroller of Maryland, he focused on making government more effective, efficient and responsive, and previously oversaw a complete restructuring of Maryland’s $6 billion 529 college savings program. Friedson currently serves as Chair of the Montgomery County Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families, recently served on Maryland’s Small Business Development Financing Authority, and was a driving force behind a new state program, MD ABLE, which launched this fall to provide financial security and independence for Marylanders with disabilities.