William Opeyemi Jawando[1] (born January 2, 1983) is an American politician and author who has served as an at-large member of the Montgomery County Council since 2018.

[7][8] Jawando first got involved in politics as a student at Catholic University, where he made efforts to establish a campus NAACP chapter, which was resisted by the school over the organization's stance on abortion.

[9] After national pressure, including from then-President and CEO of the NAACP Kweisi Mfume, the university ultimately backtracked and allowed the chapter's formation.

[11] In April 2015, Jawando announced his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives in Maryland's 8th congressional district, seeking to succeed Chris Van Hollen, who ran for U.S.

Representatives John Lewis and Elijah Cummings, former U.S. education secretary Arne Duncan, and former United States Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa P.

[17][18] He also ran on a platform of increasing the minimum wage, protecting abortion rights, paid sick and family leave, campaign finance reform, and police accountability.

[40][41] In April 2020, Jawando introduced the COVID-19 Renter Relief Act, a bill that prohibits landlords from increasing rent during and within 30 days after a public health emergency.

[42] He later partnered with local businessman David Blair to establish the Montgomery County Food Security fund to support those struggling financially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[43] In March 2021, Jawando co-signed a letter written by the Montgomery County Council to Governor Larry Hogan criticizing his administration's vaccine rollout, which they charged as disproportionally impacting people of color and low-wage residents of the state.

[46] In August 2022, he supported a proposal by County Executive Marc Elrich to extend the COVID-19 Renter Relief Act by an additional six months and to limit rent increases at 4.4%.

[52] In December 2021, he criticized a proposal by County Executive Marc Elrich to establish a police accountability board, saying it "falls short as introduced and the kind of public buy-in that's needed".

[55] In July 2020, Jawando introduced a bill to limit a police officer's use-of-force, which included restrictions on no-knock warrants and a ban on neck restraints.

[61] In May 2021, Jawando introduced a bill that would require police officers to complete a 30-hour training course on racial equity and conflict resolution.

[63] In October 2021, Jawando led efforts to launch a Guaranteed Income Pilot Program in Montgomery County, which would give $800 per month to 300 targeted families for two years.

[68] In October 2020, Jawando voted against a bill to give tax breaks to high-rise developers near Washington Metro stations.

[70] In February 2021, Jawando introduced bills to allow multi-family housing to be built near Metro stations, and another to limit rent increases to once a year.

[78] In May 2022, following the leak of a draft opinion of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Jawando predicted that Maryland would become "an important part of the nationwide care collection".

[81] During the 2020 legislative session, Jawando testified in support of a bill that would allow counties to implement a progressive income tax.