The Gist
Home

County

County Council Member, Montgomery County

District 5

Vote for
1
Term
4 years
Candidates
2
Election
Nov 3, 2026

What this office does: A county council member votes on county laws, the budget, taxes and land-use decisions.

CandidatesCompare by issue

Taxes & budget

  • Josephine SalazarRepublican

    • Proposes a two-year freeze on property, income and utility taxes
    • Supports lowering property taxes

  • Kristin MinkDemocratic

    • Opposed eliminating the $692 ITOC property tax credit
    • Supports an income tax increase on the highest earners

Public safety

  • Josephine SalazarRepublican

    • Supports multilingual outreach on public safety

  • Kristin MinkDemocratic

    • Sponsors bill requiring security upgrades at high-crime rentals
    • Supports expanding Mobile Crisis Outreach Teams to more 911 calls

Housing

  • Josephine SalazarRepublican

    • Supports first-time homeowner grants and low-income housing tax credits

  • Kristin MinkDemocratic

    • Proposes a tear-down tax on developers to fund affordable housing
    • Co-led passage of rent stabilization; supports expanding it

Health & human services

Challengers are listed first and incumbents last; otherwise candidates appear in ballot order. The Gist does not rank, rate or endorse candidates. Only positions backed by a cited source are shown; 4 issues covered in this race.