Report: Montgomery Council President on Shortlist for Lt. Governor's Running Mate

Could Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) of Silver Spring become Maryland's next lieutenant governor?

The state's gubernatorial election is a long way off, but political consultant David Moon, editor of the politics blog Maryland Juice, thinks Navarro is at least under consideration as a running mate to current Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown. Brown, a Democrat from Prince George's County, is expected to be the first candidate to announce his bid for governor in 2014. 

Adam Fogel, Navarro's chief of staff, declined to comment. 

Moon procured a short list of potential candidates to join Brown, who is thought to be preparing to kick off his campaign May 10 at Prince George's Community College. 

Here's the list: 

• Vicki Almond, Baltimore County Council member.
• Bill Cole, Baltimore City Council member.
• Kathleen Dumais, District 15 Delegate (Montgomery County).
• Nancy King, District 39 Senator (Montgomery County).
• Roger Manno, District 19 Senator (Montgomery County).
• Nancy Navarro, Montgomery County Council President.
• Ken Ulman, Howard County Executive.
• Courtney Watson, Howard County Council member.

Click here to read the blog, including a biography of all the possible candidates.

"It's a little early to try to get a very clear sense of that right now, but a couple things seem to be shaping up," said Dean Donald Kettl, head of the public policy department at the University of Maryland, College Park. "One is that Lt. Gov. Brown is from Prince George's County, so one of his key needs is going to be shoring up support among Democrats in Baltimore."

But the populous Montgomery County, and possibly Howard County, may well turn out to be the "swing areas" in the governors race, Kettl said.

"A strong candidate who has diversity for the ticket, from Montgomery County or Howard County, may turn out to be an important feature," he said.

Regardless of where the candidate is from, there's a strong chance that Brown will announce a woman as his running mate. That wouldn't be out of the ordinary for Maryland, Kettl said.

"There have been a significant number of female candidates for lieutenant governor," he said. "If you look at the makeup of the vote, women are half, at least, of the vote among the Democrats in the primary."

And in a Blue State where the Democratic primary is more of a wild card than the general election, "having a strong female on the ticket could be an important strategy," Kettl said.

Navarro joined the Montgomery County Council in 2009, after serving on the county school board. She became .