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Or send checks to:
The Ashman Campaign c/o Danny Winborne, Treasurer
P.O. Box 3255, Gaithersburg, MD 20885
Jud at the podium at GBF reception 2025
I’m Jud Ashman and I’ve had the honor to serve you as Mayor for the last 11 years, and as a City Council member for 7 years before that. Currently, I’m the longest-serving elected official in Gaithersburg, and the second-longest serving Mayor in Montgomery County.
The inspiration for my close-to-25 years of public life has always been the people of our amazing community and the wonderful experience I’ve had living, working, and raising my kids here. My first tangible experience with the City was as a volunteer rec-league sports coach and a member of the PTA at Brown Station Elementary School. And it all grew from there!
Other Current Affiliations:
Day Job:
I’m the owner of an awesome web design, development, & hosting studio, Web Mobile Image.
Education:
Certifications:
Awards and Recognition:
Leadership Philosophy:
I’ve always believed that leadership begins with listening. Then, it comes down to doing your homework, weighing factors/balancing priorities, and making the best decision to serve the interests of the community.
Family:
I live with my wonderful wife, Lee. We don’t have kids anymore; we have adults: our daughter, Jenna, and our son, Jeffrey, and his wife, Brittney, who have given us our first two grandchildren, Willow and Westley.
Pets:
We have a cat and a dog, Cooper and Luna; two granddogs, Bodie and Winter; and two grand-cats, Ellie and Victor. My kids got me a car magnet that says “I love my grand dog.” (Clearly, I need to update it.)
Neighborhood:
Orchard Place, a charming little townhouse community on the west side of NIST, adjacent to the Diamond Farms Post Office.
Original Hometown & Birthplace:
Miami, Florida
Where you’ll find me on Friday nights during the Fall:
Quince Orchard High School football games. Go QO!
Why I believe reading is so important;
The historian, David McCullough, said it perfectly: “You read nonfiction to learn the truth about history, and you read literature to learn the truth about human nature.” I try to do both – and as often as possible. I believe that reading is the most compelling way to see the world through someone else’s eyes. It breeds empathy, and developing our empathy makes us better people.
Some of my favorite books and authors: (just a few… I can go on forever!)
Fiction: ”The Age of Innocence,” Edith Wharton; “All the King’s Men,” Robert Penn Warren; ”Lonesome Dove,” Larry McMurtry; “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” Jesmyn Ward; “The Things They Carried,” Tim O’Brien; “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay,” Michael Chabon; “Homeland Elegies,” Ayad Akhtar
Non-Fiction: “What It Takes,” Richard Ben Cramer; “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt,” Edmund Morris; “Dreadnought,” Robert Massie; ”Godel, Escher Bach,” Douglas Hofstadter; “Battle Cry of Freedom,” James MacPherson; “The Right Stuff,” Tom Wolfe; “No Ordinary Time,” Doris Kearns Goodwin; “A Bridge Too Far,” Cornelius Ryan; “The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America,” George Packer; “Caste,” Isabel Wilkerson
Favorite Passage from “Hamilton”
“Legacy. What is a legacy?
It’s planting seeds in a garden you never get to see
I wrote some notes at the beginning of a song someone will sing for me
America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me
You let me make a difference
A place where even orphan immigrants
Can leave their fingerprints and rise up
I’m running out of time. I’m running, and my time’s up”
– from The World Was Wide Enough