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No, he is not descended from the second president of the United States. But as that Founding Father's wife urged, he promises to remember the ladies.

Potomac's John Adams is one of 13 democrats running in the primary for three seats in Maryland's House of Delegates, representing District 16, which includes Bethesda, Chevy Chase and Potomac.

An attorney working at a law firm in Baltimore, Adams said even though he has never held public elected office, his experience in various forms of litigation, from representing injured workers to assisting in large real estate deals, gives him the experience that will count when he tries to accomplish his goals in the General Assembly.

Adams works at the Rollins, Smalkin, Richards and Mackie law firm and has been in legal practice since 1999, but he said his representation of both sides of the same arguments means he cannot be pigeonholed in terms of his expertise.

One of his priorities will be to protect women's rights, Adams said, particularly with respect to fair pay and reproductive choices. Adams, who was endorsed by the Montgomery County chapter of the National Organization of Women, said he felt a need to focus on women's rights because he believed they got "short shrift" during the 2008 presidential election.

He said he supports legislation such as the federal Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which protects a person's ability to sue over pay discrimination based on sex, among other characteristics, and was signed into law last year.

Regarding the erosion of the traffic conditions in the area, Adams said he supports both the Purple Line light rail project that would connect downtown Bethesda to New Carrollton via Silver Spring and the Intercounty Connector between Interstate 370 and Interstate 95. The former, he said, would do an effective job of getting vehicles off roads and lessen congestion.

At the same time, he said further traffic studies are likely necessary to point the way to other effective traffic-reduction methods, and singled out a study of traffic signal timing as one possible step toward creating a more palatable traffic environment.

On economic development, one of Adams' top priorities, he thinks the county's growth policy has been on the right track, and looks askance at new taxes on small business.

"If you're either driving them out eventually or keeping other businesses away, it's just a short-term solution," he said of new levies on businesses.

Adams thinks too much emphasis has been placed in public schools on standardized state test scores, and that the percentage of students graduating and attending colleges and their SAT scores should concern school officials more. He also believes that Montgomery County Public Schools teachers should be paid more than their current average salaries. County public school teachers made an average of $76,483 as of fiscal 2010, according to Dana Tofig, chief spokesman for MCPS. State delegates are not directly involved in teacher salary negotiations.

"I know the salaries are not bad in Montgomery County, but I think they definitely could be better," he said.

-Residence: Potomac

-Age: 41

-Party: Democratic

-Education: B.A., Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vt., 1991; J.D., Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., 1999

-Work experience: Assistant State's Attorney in Baltimore; attorney at Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy, and Ecker, PA; attorney at Rollins, Smalkin, Richards and Mackie, LLC

-Family: wife, Amy; daughters, Zara , 6, and Scarlett, 4

-Top three issues: economic development, alleviating traffic congestion, and improving public education

-Campaign funds: $40,000

-Previous political experience: officer, District 19 Democratic Club

-Other affiliations: founded ACLU law chapter at Washington University in St. Louis

-Website: www.johnadams

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