ROCKVILLE — Will Jawando is resting comfortably after a heart attack, a stent, and a perfectly timed pause in the only part of the campaign that required him to answer questions. His office says doctors are confident in a full recovery. Fine. Now he should do the county a favor and drop out.

This is not complicated. The man just had a cardiac event during weekend basketball. He is 43. He is the Democratic nominee for the most powerful job in a $7 billion county that already treats residents like a revenue stream. The next two months are supposed to be debates, forums, and voters asking why their tax bill keeps growing while services stay mediocre. Instead, the official line is “adjust office activities” and “thoughts and prayers.”

That is not a campaign. That is a medical leave with a logo.

Next man up is Andrew Friedson. He already ran. He already lost. He already conceded. He also already knows where the bodies are buried on the Council. If Democrats want a nominee who can at least pretend to talk numbers without needing a fainting couch, Friedson is the least chaotic option available.

The entertainment choice is Evan Glass. Putting Glass in would turn the general election into performance art: progressive talking points, data-center sermons, and a Republican CPA named Esther Wells standing next to him asking what any of it costs. That race would be a disaster. It would also be honest.

Jawando’s team will call this ghoulish. Of course they will. Any demand that the nominee actually show up and debate now gets recast as cruelty. That is the whole point of the hospital-bed strategy. Sympathy is cheaper than a tax plan.

Montgomery County does not owe Jawando the executive suite as a get-well card. It owes residents a candidate who can stand for 90 minutes without a medical exemption. If his health comes first — and it should — then the race should too.

Drop out. Recover at home with Michele and the kids. Let Friedson take the ball. Or hand it to Glass and watch the whole thing catch fire.

Either way, stop asking the county to vote for a man whose current platform is “please don’t make me explain the budget until after Election Day.”

If he will not step aside, stop making voters do the awkward dance. Certify the recovery, skip the debates, and let Esther Wells take the oath. At least then someone in the building will know what the numbers mean.

The county has already paid for the heart attack. It should not also have to pay for the encore.