Doug Duncan

Douglas Michael Duncan (born October 25, 1955) is a former American politician from Maryland who served as Rockville City Councilman, Rockville Mayor, Montgomery County Executive, and candidate for Governor of Maryland.

He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Duncan was born on October 25, 1955.

The fifth of 13 children, Duncan grew up in the Twinbrook section of Rockville, Maryland, a working-class neighborhood, home to federal employees, teachers, police officers and firefighters.

His father worked for the NSA and later worked for the Montgomery County Public Schools as a volunteer tutor and ESOL teacher.

His mother worked for the Montgomery County Circuit Court as a courtroom clerk from 1973 to 1999.

Duncan attended St. John's College High School in Washington, D.C., graduating in 1973.

He graduated from Columbia University in three years, in 1976, earning a bachelor's degree with a double focus in psychology and political science.

Upon graduating, Doug worked for Montgomery County's criminal justice commission, and then spent 13 years in the private sector working in the telecommunications industry for AT&T.

Duncan got his start in politics at an early age, going door-to-door with his mother for John F. Kennedy's presidential campaign, and was the only one of his 12 siblings to follow in his mother's Democratic-activist footsteps.

Duncan's first full-time experience in politics was as a field director for Charlie Gilchrist's campaign for Montgomery County Executive in 1978, which Gilchrist won by a margin of better than 3-to-2.

Deciding to run for political office himself, Duncan ran for and was elected to Rockville City Council in 1982 at the age of 26.

He would be re-elected twice to that position.

In 1984, Duncan called for the resignation of then-Mayor John Freeland, who had taken a job with a city developer, claiming it was a rank conflict of interest.

Freeland resigned that year.

After serving three terms as Rockville City Councilman, Duncan ran for Mayor of Rockville in 1987, beating incumbent Steven VanGrack.

During his six years as Mayor, Doug started the process of redevelopment in downtown Rockville, which included tearing down the Rockville Mall.

That project would serve as inspiration for his revitalization of downtown Silver Spring years later as Montgomery County Executive.

Accomplishments under the Duncan administration include building Wootton Parkway and Gude Drive bridge.

One of his proudest accomplishments was starting Hometown Holidays, Rockville's annual Memorial Day weekend festival.

Duncan successfully ran for Montgomery County Executive in 1994, defeating Councilman Bruce Adams by nine percentage points in the Democratic Primary and earning 63% of the vote against Steve Abrams in the general election.

Duncan would go on to be re-elected twice for a then unprecedented three terms as County Executive.

During Duncan's tenure as County Executive, he focused on improving educational excellence, strengthening environmental protections, fighting poverty and urban blight, and positioning Montgomery County as an international biotechnology leader and economic engine for Maryland all while managing a multi-billion dollar annual budget.

The Washington Post described his governing style as "county leadership that knows when to quit mulling and start moving."

Due to his long tenure and influence, media observers later described him as "Montgomery's dominant political figure for over a decade."

Duncan's focus on education included increasing investments in higher education opportunities for county residents, leading to the expansion of Montgomery College's Rockville, Takoma Park, and Germantown campuses.

Duncan's advocacy for Montgomery College helped lead to the planning and development of many new initiatives and institutes including the college's High Technology and Science center, Humanities Institute, Information Technology Institute and Health and Science Center.

Duncan also played a role in creating the Universities at Shady Grove Center and encouraging the growth of the Johns Hopkins University Shady Grove Campus.

Duncan was County Executive during the DC sniper attacks, seven of which occurred in Montgomery County in October 2002.

Some of Duncan's top accomplishments during his three terms in office were the revitalization of downtown Silver Spring, including the relocation of Discovery's world headquarters and the opening of the AFI Silver Theatre and Culture Center, the building of Strathmore, a cultural and artistic venue and institution, the Maryland Soccer Plex, gaining the approval for building of the Intercounty Connector, and becoming the first county ever in the United States to implement an earned income tax credit.

Amongst his many awards and accolades during his tenure, one of the most notable was being named Washingtonian of the Year in 2002.

In 2005, Duncan announced his candidacy for the Democratic Party's nomination to challenge incumbent Governor Robert Ehrlich in the 2006 Maryland gubernatorial election.

His main rival in the Democratic primary election was Baltimore Mayor Martin J. O'Malley.

He announced his campaign with a bus tour through each of Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore City.

During the campaign, Duncan trailed O'Malley and Ehrlich in fundraising.

Education became a defining issue in the race: while schools in Duncan's home jurisdiction of Montgomery County had a good reputation, a judge had ordered a state takeover of Baltimore's troubled special education programs in 2005.

Duncan began airing television ads in May 2006, relatively early in the campaign season; his poll numbers began to rise in the following weeks.

On June 22, 2006, Duncan unexpectedly dropped out of the race citing a diagnosis of clinical depression.

During the brief announcement of his withdrawal, he said that he had at first thought he was simply experiencing physical and mental fatigue associated with campaigning, but that the symptoms had progressed beyond simple fatigue, and sought medical treatment which resulted in the depression diagnosis.

Duncan currently serves as president and CEO of Leadership Greater Washington, a position he has held since 2014.