Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman, who was just sworn in for another four-year term on Monday, said Tuesday that he’s running for what will be an open seat on the Montgomery County Council.

Ashman, 54, won the city’s recent mayoral race by an almost 3-to-1 margin.

He first ascended to the position in 2014, when the city’s mayor at the time, Sidney Katz, left for the County Council.

Now Ashman is looking to succeed Katz, who is vacating his seat in December 2026, for a second time.

“There are serious challenges here in the county,” Ashman said. “I think it’s a wonderful county, it’s got tremendous potential, but housing affordability’s a big problem, particularly with everything that’s going on with the federal government.”

Ashman was considering a run for County Council, and he said the day after the election that people in the city had encouraged him to run.

If Ashman were to win his bid to represent Gaithersburg and its surrounding areas as the District 3 council member, the Gaithersburg City Council could appoint someone to serve as mayor until the next city election, which is in 2027.

Voters would then elect someone to serve out the remainder of the term.

City residents can also petition for a special election to fill the seat, though they’d need 20% of all registered voters to sign on to trigger it. This month, fewer than 15% of registered voters participated in the election that saw Ashman win his third full term.

If Ashman loses the County Council race, he can continue serving as mayor.

Ginny Bixby contributed to this report.