The first Republican to enter the race for Montgomery County executive says he wants to focus on government efficiency and reduce the number of council seats.

Shelly Skolnick, a Friendship Heights-based attorney, has filed paperwork establishing a campaign committee with the state elections board — a precursor to formally filing to run for county executive.

In an email to The Banner, Skolnick said government efficiency is his top priority. To create efficiencies, he proposes offering free tuition at Montgomery College in exchange for student volunteers to work in the county government, and using artificial intelligence to reduce costs and to “stop wasteful spending such as county funds for politicians’ campaigns,” referring to the county’s public campaign financing program.

He also wants to eliminate the County Council’s four at-large seats and redistrict the county to have 11 district council members, though that would require a ballot measure decided on by the voters.

Skolnick, 82, has run for office several times, including for congressional and County Council seats, albeit unsuccessfully. Most recently, he ran for the Republican nomination for county executive in 2022, but lost to Reardon Sullivan, who currently chairs the Montgomery County Republican Central Committee.

Sullivan did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday as to whether he plans to run again or if the central committee has chosen to back a specific candidate.

Several Democrats have entered the race, including three current members of the County Council. Evan Glass and Will Jawando, both at-large council members, and Andrew Friedson, who represents the Bethesda area, are vying for their party’s nomination.

Current County Executive Marc Elrich cannot run for the office again because voters passed a referendum in November amending the county charter to restrict the county executive to two terms. He is in the third year of his second four-year term, which will end in 2026. Instead, he’s running for a seat on the council as an at-large member.

Skolnick’s other campaign priorities include lowering property taxes, adding additional car lanes to address traffic congestion, adding night court hours at the District Court and the Circuit Court to increase convenience for county residents, and beautifying Montgomery County.