‘Montgomery County North’ is mostly a distraction

Late summer gives Republican state Sen. Michael Hough plenty of reason to sweat — and it has little to do with the weather. To win the county executive’s race in an increasingly purple Frederick County, where registered Democrats now outnumber Republicans, Hough will likely need to position himself as a moderate. Although that may be asking too much for even a savvy career political operative as Hough, who before becoming a state senator spent years as consigliere to a RepublicanMaryland state senator turned West Virginia congressman in Alex Mooney (Hough currently works in Washington as Mooney’s chief of staff).