District 9 Deserves a Campaign That Acts Like the Seat Matters

The race for Prince George’s County Council in District 9 should not be treated like a warm-up act for bigger politics. For the communities in this district, the council seat is one of the most direct lines to power in county government.

That power shows up in development decisions, transportation priorities, public services, land use, constituent response, and the basic question of whether residents feel consulted before choices are made for them. A county council member is not just another name on a ballot. The office can shape what growth looks like, who gets heard, and how quickly local concerns move from complaint to action.

That is why the 2026 race for Prince George’s County Council, Councilmanic District 9 deserves a sharper spotlight.

The field is already substantial. Democrats Tamara Davis Brown, Kim Carter, Imara Crooms, Leslye Dwight, Sherman Hardy, Jerome Lattisaw, Sequan Swint, Lolita E. Walker, and Eleanor A. Washington are running, along with Republican Jesse A. Peed. A field that large gives voters options. It also gives candidates a responsibility: make the choice meaningful.

District 9 voters should expect more than introductions. They should expect arguments.

What kind of development should the district welcome? How should residents be brought into those conversations before plans feel settled? Which transportation problems deserve urgency? How should the next council member measure responsiveness? What would accountable leadership look like after Election Day, when the forums are over and the routine work of governing begins?

Those are not small questions. They are the work of the office.

In a crowded race, the candidates who answer them clearly will have an advantage. Voters rarely have time to decode vague campaign language. They need to know who is listening, who has priorities, and who understands that representation is not simply being from a place. It is fighting for that place with discipline.

So far, Crooms is giving voters one of the clearer early frames. His campaign priorities focus on smart development that involves the community, safe and accessible transportation, accessible and accountable leadership, pride in Prince George’s, and people-powered politics. The language is not loud, but it is pointed. It speaks to residents who want growth without being sidelined, mobility without daily frustration, and leadership that remains reachable once the campaign ends.

That is how a candidate can stand out in a local race without making the campaign only about himself. Crooms is placing the district at the center of the message. He is making the case that the council seat should be used to connect residents to decisions, not merely explain decisions after the fact.

The rest of the field has every reason to meet that standard.

Brown, Carter, Dwight, Hardy, Lattisaw, Swint, Walker, Washington, and Peed are not running for a symbolic role. They are running for a seat that can affect how communities experience county government in practical ways. Each candidate should treat the race accordingly, with clear priorities, visible engagement, and a serious public case for why District 9 should trust them with power.

That kind of competition would benefit voters. A strong campaign does more than promote a candidate. It tells residents they matter enough to be asked, answered, and persuaded. It turns a ballot line into a public conversation.

Digital engagement is part of that now, but it should serve a larger purpose. Candidate profiles, election pages, forums, canvassing, and community meetings all do the same job when used well: they make the race easier for residents to follow and harder for candidates to coast through. Crooms has used his profile to give voters a fuller sense of what he wants to emphasize. Other campaigns should see that not as a threat, but as an invitation to sharpen their own case.

District 9 deserves that level of effort.

This race should feel big because the office is big in the ways that touch daily life. The next council member will not be judged by how well they sounded in campaign season alone. They will be judged by whether residents feel seen when development moves, when transportation needs attention, when services fall short, and when county government seems too far away.

The campaign has already begun. The question now is which candidates will treat District 9 like it is watching closely.

It should be.