MoCo County Executive Doug Duncan has closed ranks around his pro-highway buddies; just about all of the local politicians that aren’t “neutral” are supporting his bid for the Democratic gubenatorial nomination.

This time, most Montgomery Democrats are supporting Duncan, but there is a noticeable divide on the County Council.

Although no Democratic council member has publicly endorsed O’Malley, three are neutral, which says a lot about their relationship with the county executive.

And, perhaps not surprisingly, the split on the council has its roots in the 2002 election.

The five council members backing Duncan — at-large members Steven A. Silverma n , Nancy Floreen , George L. Leventhal and Michael L. Subin and district member Michael Knapp (Upcounty) — were all members of his End Gridlock slate in 2002.

Duncan spent several hundred thousand dollars to help elect the slate, whose members all support the proposed intercounty connector highway.

The three Democratic council members who oppose the project– Council President Tom Pere z (Silver Spring) and district members Phil Andrews (Gaithersburg) and Marilyn Praisner (Eastern County) — are neutral in the 2006 race.

Since the 2002 vote, those three have generally advocated a more restrained policy on growth and development than the positions taken by Duncan and the End Gridlock team.

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