May 13, Hyattsville residents will elect one council member from each of Hyattsville’s five wards. Ballots will start arriving in the mail mid-April.
Read about who is running in each ward below. Find out which ward you live in using the city’s interactive map.
Mark your calendars for the Hyattsville Life & Times’ candidate forum, Thursday, April 24, in the Hyattsville Municipal Building’s multipurpose room (4310 Gallatin Street). A meet-and-greet will start at 6:30 p.m., and we will ask the candidates your questions starting at 7 p.m.
Submit your questions for the candidates by April 21. Keep an eye out for our full voter guide, which will be part of our April print newspaper and published online.
Ward 1. Ocean scientist Sam Denes, who served one four-year term, is not running for reelection.
Three candidates with prior involvement in city government are competing for his seat: Greg Barnes has sat on the city’s planning committee since 2021, and served the year prior on a compensation review committee. Stuart Eisenberg has been executive director of the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation since 2005, and is retiring from that role. Eisenberg served on the city council from 2001 to 2005. Scott Wilson served on the city council during the same period, and regularly attends meetings of the city council and other committees, objecting to increased city spending. Wilson ran for city council in 2021, losing to Joanne Waszczak in a five-way race.
Ward 1 includes the areas of Hyattsville east of Baltimore Avenue, and west to 42nd Avenue.
Ward 2. Emily Strab is the only incumbent facing a challenger: Lisbeth Melendez Rivera. Strab is an administrator at St. Jerome’s Institute, a high school in Washington, D.C., where she also teaches music. Rivera, a chef, divinity student and LGBTQ+ activist, ran against Strab in 2022. Strab beat Rivera by 17 votes in a three-way race.
Ward 2 includes much of the area between 38th Avenue and 42nd Avenue south of Queensbury, and Driskell Park.
Ward 3. Educator Jimmy McClellan gave up his seat in 2024 when he moved to a different ward. Mental health counselor Gopi Dhokai is running against tech businessman and army commander J. Clemonts Jr. — both of whom are new to city politics.
Ward 3 includes the area around the Hyattsville Crossing Metro station and mall, as well as Northwestern High School and residences west of Adelphi Road.
Ward 4. Edouard Haba, who has been a city councilmember for Ward 4 since 2013, is running unopposed, in the only uncontested election this season. Haba is a family mediator in the D.C. court system. Haba also ran unopposed in 2021.
Ward 4 is part of West Hyattsville, west of Queens Chapel and east of Ager Road.
Ward 5. Community organizer Rommel Sandino, who served one term starting in 2021, is not running again. Three candidates are looking to fill the seat: advocacy engagement manager Michael Angeloni, public sector consultant Daniel Amador Renard and retired military officer and space operations professional Kelson Nisbett. Nisbett is new to Hyattsville city politics. Angeloni has served on the city’s Education Advisory Committee since 2023, and Renard has served on the city’s Race and Equity Task Force since 2021 and served one term on the Planning Committee in 2024.
Ward 5 includes the area near the West Hyattsville Metro station, and along Hamilton west of 38th Avenue.
Each ward also has a second council member who is not up for reelection until 2027. They are Joanne Waszczak (Ward 1), Danny Schaible (Ward 2), Kareem Redmond (Ward 3), Michelle Lee (Ward 4) and Joseph Solomon (Ward 5).
A prior version of this article mistakenly said that Emily Strab was running for a third term. She was first elected in 2022 to fill a vacancy, following an electoral loss to Danny Schaible in 2019. It also stated that Michael Angeloni served on the Education Facilities Task Force, when he in fact serves on the Education Advisory Committee.
