2026 Candidate Questionnaire
County Council District 1
Drew Morrison (D)
Website: morrisonforcouncil.com
Find all candidate questionnaires here.
Housing Leadership
In your view, why are many Montgomery County residents struggling to afford housing?
There are a few key factors that we must address with greater urgency and commitment: There is not enough housing supply to meet demand, which drives up land values, rents, and home prices. Higher interest rates make financing for purchasing homes out of reach for many. Finally, outside of a few critical industries our County has not been able to meaningfully grow the amount of high-income, family-sustaining jobs that support those who live here, as our private sector job creation has been flat for nearly two decades now.
What is one housing initiative you would plan to spearhead, if elected?
On the Council, I would work to unlock the Metro, Purple Line, and Bus Rapid Transit sites the County still must to provide more housing where we are most able to add the most of it.
Throughout my career in County Government, the private sector and in State Government, I have worked to move smart growth, transit-oriented projects forward with housing as the focus. I understand how to create housing at Metro sites, such as through the State’s involvement in the North Bethesda Metro land project. I understand how to legislate to enable more of this type of housing, such as my work moving forward Governor Moore’s transit-oriented housing bill. I have an in-depth understanding of the policies, the politics, and the challenges associated with these projects.
Zoning, Supply, and Housing Prices
In your view, how does current zoning policy in Montgomery County affect the supply and price of housing?
Zoning is one component of the policies and regulations impacting housing supply and I support thoughtful reforms to provide for more flexibility to allow for more young families, working families, and older adults of retirement age to move here or be able to afford to stay here.
What changes would you support to Montgomery County’s zoning policies to support greater housing affordability?
I support reducing requirements and increasing density around transit and allowing a greater variety of housing types. The Council has done a number of zoning amendments to streamline and speed up the regulatory review process. This is helpful, and I would be a leader on the next Council for finding more of these opportunities. I also believe we have an opportunity to improve and speed up our permitting processes by modeling what other jurisdictions have done and offering pre-set and pre-approved site plans for types of housing geared at affordability.
Affordable & Market-Rate Housing
Please explain what you see as the role that each of these types of housing play in the housing landscape in Montgomery County, and the needs they fill for Montgomery County residents:
a. Affordable (subsidized) housing
This is critical housing that provides stability and economic opportunity to so many. Montgomery County has an incredible legacy of affordable housing progress, including the landmark moderately-priced dwelling unit (MPDU) program and financial support for preserving and creating new income-restricted housing. We should uphold this legacy by continuing to create new subsidized housing opportunities across a wider range of incomes and in more communities throughout the County because it is the right thing to do and will continue to materially improve lives.
b. Market-rate (unsubsidized) housing
We need more market-rate housing. The data shows the introduction of new housing - even housing marketed as “luxury” or at the higher end of the market - still makes a positive impact for affordability by relieving demand pressures on existing market-rate housing. I also will advocate to protect naturally-occurring affordable housing, some of which I and my wife have personally benefited from in downtown Bethesda. This is how young people, working people, and older retirement aged people are able to be part of our community and that is worth protecting and expanding.
What is one policy change in each area that you would pursue, if elected?
a. Affordable (subsidized) housing
For over two decades, rules at the state level kept Montgomery County projects from being able to effectively compete for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), a key financing tool for creating deeply affordable housing. I will work with local and state leaders to change those rules and give Montgomery County a fighting shot to build more housing for low-income families.
b. Market-rate (unsubsidized) housing
In the housing debates in our community, I believe in converting excuses into true solutions. There is universal agreement that the White Flint Mall site can be a place for meaningful housing production. There is often discussion of the “pipeline” of approved projects. I believe that we can create a suite of more creative infrastructure financing and a dogged commitment to addressing the financial and regulatory barriers affecting specific sites. In doing so, I believe that we can get these projects moving. Implementing financing strategies available from the Governor’s Transit & Housing Opportunity Act will also help us in achieving these goals.
Transportation & Smart Growth
What would you do to prioritize transit frequency and access if elected?
Throughout my career, I have helped create transit solutions to better serve in-demand areas and communities that relied on transit but didn’t have enough service. At the State, I oversaw the Metro system for Maryland. At the Council, I worked on bringing Ride On to the historic African American community of Tobytown. In the private sector, I worked on the County’s Great Seneca Transit Network to connect the Great Seneca Corridor and The Universities at Shady Grove to Metro. I understand how to do this work, how to advocate for it, and how to get these transit expansions in capital budgets. I will work to expand and enhance Ride On consistent with the Ride On Reimagined plan.
I would also advocate for retaining and improving Metrorail and Metrobus frequency and addressing upcoming funding needs for the WMATA system. I will work with our state legislative partners to make real progress on transforming the MARC Brunswick Line into a true Cross-Montgomery Express to enhance service further.
What would you do to ensure safe walking and biking access to transit, stores, schools and services for residents of existing and new housing?
When I worked for former District 1 Councilmember Roger Berliner, I helped him bring Montgomery County into the Vision Zero movement. Safety has been a key piece of the work I have done at the regional and state level. I understand and have worked on solutions to prevent serious injury and deaths on our roadways. I will work with County DOT, the State Highway Administration, and local communities to advocate for, fund, and implement traffic engineering solutions to protect all users of the road.
Community Input & Stakeholder Engagement
What organizations, stakeholders, datasets, or other sources of information would you turn to to understand the nuts and bolts of housing policy implementation, and how to craft effective policies that meet Montgomery County’s housing needs?
I have long had a passion for better understanding housing policy. As an undergraduate at Yale, I wrote my senior thesis on the housing market in Mexico. I interned at Enterprise Community Partners, one of the largest affordable housing organizations in the country. I led a student organization that partnered with the state’s foreclosure prevention program to help connect working class homeowners with resources to help them keep their homes. After several years of working predominantly on transportation and environmental policy, I went back to school for a master’s in city planning and an MBA at MIT. I took multiple courses on real estate and housing policy and economics and wrote my master’s thesis about how to improve housing quality in the low-income housing market. I bring a unique depth of knowledge to this race.
I have stayed engaged in housing through my work at the state level and regionally and regularly consult a few resources and partners. Comptroller Lierman has issued a very compelling report on housing issues in Maryland and I follow closely the work of her office. I have also followed the housing advocacy that organizations like the Coalition for Smarter Growth have done in this region.
Nationally, I am closely following progress in other state’s housing issues, particularly through Connor Dougherty’s reporting; the research of Chris Elmendorf to leverage the law to advocate for more housing; and the political science research of David Broockman and Josh Kalla to better understand individuals’ preferences for land use and design and how to use that to inform support for the needed mix of housing.