- Doug Duncan
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Douglas M. Duncan 
Rockville City Councilman In office
1982–1987Mayor of Rockville In office
1987–1993Preceded by Steven VanGrack Succeeded by James Coyle Montgomery County Executive In office
1994–2006Preceded by Neal Potter Succeeded by Ike Leggett Personal details Born October 25, 1955 Political party Democratic Spouse(s) Barbara Residence Rockville, Maryland Occupation Former State Politician, Former Vice President for Administrative Affairs at the University of Maryland, College Park[1] Douglas M. Duncan (born October 25, 1955) is a Democratic politician from Maryland who served as County Executive of Montgomery County from 1994 to 2006. At three terms, Duncan held the office longer than any other County Executive in Montgomery County's history. He was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Maryland in the 2006 elections until he abruptly dropped out of the race on June 22, 2006, citing clinical depression. Following his exit from the gubernatorial race, he was appointed Vice President of Administrative Affairs of the University of Maryland, College Park, where he worked for 17 months.
Contents
Early life and family
Duncan attended St. John's College High School and received a Bachelor's degree in psychology and political science from Columbia University. Duncan is married to Barbara Duncan and has five children.[citation needed]
Early political career
Duncan was elected as Montgomery County Executive in 1994. Prior to serving as County Executive, Duncan was the Mayor of Rockville from 1987–1993 and a member of the Rockville City Council from 1982–1987.[citation needed] He won election to a third term as County Executive in 2002, becoming the longest serving Executive in the history of Montgomery County.[1] Due to his long tenure and influence, media observers later described him as, "Montgomery's dominant political figure for over a decade."[2]
Gubernatorial race and aftermath
Duncan was a candidate for the Democratic Party's nomination to challenge Governor Robert Ehrlich in the 2006 Maryland gubernatorial election. His main rival in the Democratic primary election was Baltimore Mayor Martin J. O'Malley.[2] He announced his campaign with a bus tour through each of Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore City.[3]
During the campaign, Duncan trailed both O'Malley and Ehrlich in fundraising.[3] Education became a defining issue in the race; schools in Duncan's home jurisdiction of Montgomery County had a good reputation while a judge had ordered a state takeover of Baltimore's troubled special education programs in 2005.[4] Duncan began airing television ads in May 2006, relatively early in the campaign season, and in the following weeks his poll numbers began to rise. This improvement in the polls was tempered by media reports that Duncan's campaign had accepted contributions from companies associated with Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist who had been accused of corruption.[2]
On June 22, 2006, Duncan dropped out of the race unexpectedly 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. He cited a family history of the disease as a factor in the diagnosis, and a number of aides and political associates were quoted in the press saying that Duncan was noticeably unhappy in the period leading up to his withdrawal. During his withdrawal announcement, Duncan endorsed his Democratic primary opponent, Martin O'Malley, in the latter's race against incumbent Republican Governor Robert Ehrlich.[2] At the time of the announcement, polls showed Duncan closing in on O'Malley even as his fundraising was beginning to decline.[5] This weakness in fundraising had led to speculation that Duncan would drop out during the summer, even before the announcement of the depression diagnosis. Reports at the time suggested that his dropping out would have a significant effect on state politics, making it easier for O'Malley to unseat Ehrlich and lowering turnout in the Democratic primary, thereby affecting down ballot races as well.[2]
Later career
Duncan was honored by a number of mental health groups for having publicly announced that he suffered from depression. The public nature of his declaration led to an increase in the number of calls to Montgomery County mental health agencies from people seeking mental health treatment. In the months after his withdrawal, he continued to seek counseling for a time and began a medical regiment to treat the depression. He continued to publicly discuss these treatments and his experiences with the disease.[6]
On March 22, 2007, Duncan was appointed Vice President of Administrative Affairs at the University of Maryland, College Park, effective April 4.[7] This made him the University's chief administrative and finance officer with authority over the University's human resources, comptroller, public safety, facilities and environmental management, and procurement. During his tenure, Duncan led the East Campus redevelopment project, designed as a mixed-use town center with graduate student housing along the Route 1 corridor. In association with the project, he also worked to improve relations between the university and the surrounding city of College Park. On October 15, 2008, after a seventeen month tenure, Duncan announced his resignation from the University of Maryland.[1]
In early 2009, speculation about a possible political comeback for Duncan began circulating in Maryland media. The speculation followed a speech by Duncan in which he discussed his experiences with depression. When asked if he would run for office again, Duncan did not rule the option out, and he went on to criticize incumbent Governor Martin O'Malley's policies, mocking O'Malley for expressing surprise at declining state revenues on the same day a new album from O'Malley's band was released.[8] The Sun's blog Maryland Politics went on to ask, "Can Doug Duncan Make a Comeback?" in the title of one of its postings, and went on to question whether voters would accept a candidate with a history of depression.[9]
In February 2010, several Maryland politicians, including Kumar P. Barve and Christopher Van Hollen, expressed support for Duncan's becoming the Metro general manager, after John Catoe announced his resignation from the position, effective April 2010.[10]
References
- ^ a b c "Duncan Resigns Position at Maryland". The University of Maryland. http://www.umd.edu/umnews/duncan_08.cfm. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ a b c d e Mosk, Matthew and Marimow, Ann (June 23, 2006). "Duncan Drops Bid for Governor". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/22/AR2006062200755.html. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ a b Mosk, Matthew and Wagner, John (January 17, 2006). "Duncan Trails Opponents". Maryland Politics Blog. Washington Post. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/annapolis/2006/01/duncans_dough.html. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ Rascovar, Barry (August 19, 2005). "Schools are key in governor's race". The Gazette (Montgomery County, Maryland). http://www.gazette.net/gazette_archive/2005b/200533/weekend/issues_ideas/290435-1.html. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ Matt Mosk and John Wagner. "Duncan Trails Opponents". The Washington Post. January 17, 2006. URL retrieved on February 2, 2007.
- ^ Baer, Susan (September 1, 2008). "Doug Duncan's Comeback". The Washingtonian. http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/9311.html. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ "Duncan Appointed University of Maryland Vice President". Office of Internet Communications, University of Maryland, College Park. http://www.umd.edu/umnews/duncan_07.html. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ Vozzella, Laura (April 1, 2009). "'Living Proof that Treatment Works'". The Baltimore Sun. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2009-04-01/news/0903310125_1_depression-duncan-family-history. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ Green, Andy (April 1, 2009). "Can Doug Duncan Make a Comeback?". Maryland Politics. The Baltimore Sun. http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/local/politics/2009/04/can_doug_duncan_make_a_comebac.html. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ Ford, C. Benjamin (February 12, 2010). "Some say Duncan is perfect for Metro job; others aren't so sure". gazette.net. The Gazette. http://www.gazette.net/stories/02122010/polinew170611_32554.php. Retrieved February 17, 2010.
External links
Preceded by
Neal PotterMontgomery County, Maryland Executive
1994–2006Succeeded by
Ike LeggettCategories:- 1955 births
- Living people
- People from Rockville, Maryland
- Columbia University alumni
- Maryland Democrats
- Mayors of places in Maryland
- Montgomery County, Maryland Executives
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