Nonpartisan on the Ballot: Unions, a Party Committee and a Super PAC Weigh In on Montgomery’s At-Large School Board Race

Omar Lazo leads Brenda Diaz in 2026 fundraising, but the bigger money sits outside the campaigns. Figures reported by Montgomery Perspective add up to $56,125 in union-funded super PAC spending against Diaz.

By Michael Phillips | MDBayNews

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Early voting in Montgomery County runs through Thursday, Oct. 29, and one countywide contest on the ballot carries a nonpartisan label that doesn’t describe how it is being fought. The at-large Board of Education seat pits Omar Lazo, a Montgomery College trustee and restaurant owner, against Brenda Diaz, a former county schools teacher endorsed by the Montgomery County Republican Party. The state’s candidate list shows both as non-partisan. The money and the institutions behind them tell a different story. The winner will hold a countywide seat for a four-year term on an eight-member board that includes a student representative.

MDBayNews previously covered the race on Sept. 3. Here is where the filings stand now.

The numbers

State campaign finance reports covering activity through Oct. 18 show Lazo leading in 2026 fundraising, spending, and cash on hand. The figures below count only each campaign’s 2026 reports, not lifetime totals.

• Raised: Lazo, $22,192, which includes $280 in in-kind contributions. Diaz, $10,771.84.
• Spent: Lazo, $10,781.79. Diaz, $6,921.37.
• Cash on hand, Oct. 18: Lazo, $11,130.21. Diaz, $3,850.47.

Diaz’s committee also carries money from her 2024 run, so her lifetime total is higher. The Banner’s Oct. 27 report lists $27,594 raised for Diaz, and her filing shows $27,594.30 cumulative, of which $16,822.46 was raised before 2026, according to her January annual report. That is why this article uses 2026 figures for both candidates. Her first pre-general report was filed Aug. 25 as a zero-activity report and amended Oct. 23. The numbers here use the amended version.

Who is writing the checks

Of the $21,912 Lazo has raised in cash, about 30 percent came from six checks. Five of them came from political committees and unions:

• $2,000 from the MSEA’s Fund for Children and Public Education PAC, the state teachers union’s political fund, on May 23
• $500 from the political action committee of MCGEO UFCW Local 1994, a county employees union, on Oct. 2
• $500 transferred from Wes Moore for Maryland, the governor’s campaign committee, on Aug. 25
• $500 from the committee of House Speaker Joseline Peña-Melnyk on Jan. 12
• $100 from a committee in the name of Deni Taveras on Jan. 9

A $3,000 check from David Trone of Potomac, the Total Wine owner and former Democratic congressman, rounds out the six. It was dated May 4. Trone lost the June Democratic primary in the 6th Congressional District to Rep. April McClain Delaney, according to Roll Call. The Banner reported Oct. 27 that school board member Julie Yang and state Del. Jheanelle Wilkins also gave to Lazo. The filings show $100 from Yang on Sept. 19 and $250 from Wilkins on Oct. 7. Most of Lazo’s remaining individual contributions were $100 or less.

Diaz’s filings show their own party-adjacent money. The Montgomery County Federation of Republican Women gave $650 on Sept. 8, and the Chevy Chase Women’s Republican Club gave $500 on Oct. 16. Together, that is $1,150, about 11 percent of what she has raised this year.

The party and union footprint

The imbalance goes beyond donations.

• The Montgomery County Education Association endorsed Lazo in December, according to Bethesda Magazine. The Banner reported in June that he is on the union’s influential Apple Ballot.
• Lazo is president of the Latino Democratic Club of Montgomery County, which the county Democratic Central Committee lists among its clubs. The Banner noted he lost a 2022 County Council race as a Democrat.
• The Banner reported in June that the Democratic Central Committee changed its own rules so it could oppose school board candidates. The committee’s statement said it “urges Democrats and all other voters to reject Brenda Diaz.”
• Lazo’s pre-general report shows an $800 payment to the Democratic Central Committee for a gala ad on Sept. 19, and a $50 gala ticket bought from the teachers union on Sept. 28. Nothing in the filings links those payments to the committee’s stance on Diaz.

The super PAC

Some of the largest documented spending around the race has come from outside the candidates’ campaigns. Strong Maryland, a super PAC formed April 22, has been running ads against Diaz. Montgomery Perspective reported Oct. 6 that the Maryland State Education Association put $40,000 into the PAC on May 26 and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees added $25,000 on June 2.

By that outlet’s count, Strong Maryland spent $18,125 trying to keep Diaz off the general election ballot, then reported $38,000 in online ads against her on Sept. 21. The Banner described the spending as tens of thousands of dollars, mostly in social media ads calling her too extreme for the county. Montgomery Perspective also reported that the state teachers union is running its own Facebook ads for Lazo.

Montgomery Perspective did not publish a total. Adding its two figures gives $56,125, which assumes the amounts do not overlap and covers only the filings identified so far, not spending through Election Day. By that math, the PAC’s reported spending is more than five times the $10,771.84 Diaz’s campaign raised in 2026 and more than double Lazo’s $22,192.

Independent expenditures are separate from a candidate’s own campaign account. The filings reviewed do not show coordination between Strong Maryland and Lazo’s campaign, and this article does not suggest any.

The fight is also about politics, not just money. Diaz, a former county schools teacher, resigned in 2022 after violating the district’s COVID mask mandate, according to The Banner. She wants to restore the school resource officer program the district ended in 2021. The Banner reported that the president of the county teachers union has painted her as aligned with MAGA politics. Diaz rejects the MAGA characterization, and disputes claims that she supports banning books. She says the PAC is targeting her because she answers to families, not special interests. Lazo describes himself as a bridge-builder.

The résumés

Diaz and Lazo each bring something to the seat. Per The Banner’s voter guide, Diaz holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown and a master’s in education from George Washington University. She has taught middle and high school social studies and founded an outdoor education program for homeschooled children. In a candidate guide published by Moderately MoCo, she called academic failure the biggest issue facing the system.

Lazo holds a business degree from the University of Maryland. The Banner’s guide lists him as a Montgomery College trustee since 2020, chair of the county Workforce Development Board since 2018, and a small business owner for more than 30 years. Of the two, Diaz is the one with classroom experience and a degree in education.

In the June 23 four-way primary, Lazo finished first with 46,248 votes, or 34.89 percent. Diaz received 39,094 votes, or 29.49 percent, a difference of 7,154, according to the State Board of Elections’ official results. Both advanced to November.

The nonpartisan label

Voters will see two nonpartisan candidates on the ballot. The campaigns around them are not politically neutral. Lazo has taken money from Democratic political committees, leads a Democratic club and carries the Apple Ballot endorsement. Diaz has taken money from Republican women’s clubs and has the county Republican Party’s endorsement. A super PAC funded by two labor organizations has reported spending against her.

The disclosed contributions, endorsements and independent expenditures are not, by themselves, evidence of wrongdoing. But a nonpartisan label on the ballot does not keep parties, unions and outside groups out of the race.

What to Watch

• The post-general finance reports due Nov. 17, covering Oct. 19 through Nov. 10, and any new independent expenditure filings from Strong Maryland.
• Whether the Democratic Central Committee’s rule change gets used in other nonpartisan races.
• Voting deadlines. Early voting runs through Oct. 29 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Election Day is Nov. 3. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 or hand-delivered to a drop box or the local board of elections by 8 p.m. that day. Online requests for an emailed mail-in ballot close Oct. 30.

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Sources

Campaign finance figures come from reports filed with the Maryland State Board of Elections by Omar Lazo for Board of Education (Annual, Pre-Primary 1 and 2, Pre-General 1 and 2, including June 11 amendments) and by Friends for Brenda M. Diaz (Pre-Primary 1 and 2, Pre-General 1 as originally filed Aug. 25 and amended Oct. 23, and Pre-General 2 filed Oct. 23), along with contribution downloads from the state’s campaign finance system dated Oct. 25. Additional reporting comes from The Banner (Talia Richman, June 24 and Oct. 16, plus its 2026 Montgomery County Board of Education voter guide), Montgomery Perspective (Adam Pagnucco, Oct. 6), Bethesda Magazine (Jan. 22), Roll Call (June 24), Moderately MoCo’s candidate forum guide, the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee’s clubs page, the State Board of Elections’ 2026 general election candidate list and voting dates page, and MDBayNews (Sept. 3). The Banner’s Oct. 27 campaign finance report is by Ginny Bixby and Talia Richman. Links: State Board of Elections official primary results, 2026 reporting schedule, Montgomery Perspective, Oct. 6, The Banner, Oct. 27, The Banner, Oct. 16, The Banner, June 24.

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