Montgomery County Republicans withdraw support for candidate Harold Maldonado

The Montgomery County Republican Party has unanimously voted to withdraw its support for Harold Maldonado, a candidate for County Council District 7. The party also announced it will exclude his campaign from its 2026 general-election voter guide.

The decision follows the discovery of social media posts in which Maldonado alleged that Mossad, Israel’s national intelligence agency, controls elected officials in Montgomery County. Maldonado has also made various other claims, including that the CIA and Mossad were behind the 9/11 attacks and that events such as Pearl Harbor and the October 7 attacks were “false flags.”

Republican Party Chairman Dennis Melby stated that the party rejects these allegations as “baseless and unacceptable,” noting that the organization opposes “antisemitism, bigotry and all forms of baseless conspiracy theories.”

Maldonado has responded to the decision by releasing a statement through his campaign, alleging that the party has “smeared” him. He defended his record, citing his ten years of experience working with the Central Intelligence Agency on national security and political analysis, and argued that voters should be allowed to evaluate his positions directly.