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Miami Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Who's running for governor in Maryland so far? See the growing list
BALTIMORE - There's a growing field of candidates vying to steal Democratic Gov. Wes Moore's seat ahead of the 2026 primary election. Though only one candidate has officially filed with the State Board of Elections, four Republicans, two Democrats, and one Green Party candidate have publicly stated that they have their eyes on Maryland's chief executive position. The race grows ever more crowded as Moore hits the campaign trail to stump for Democrats in other states, signaling presumed presidential aspirations. But Maryland and Moore both face new challenges from President Donald Trump, who is implementing tougher, more conservative policies during his second non-consecutive term. Moore has said Trump's agenda is likely to exacerbate the state's already precarious fiscal situation that the governor and General Assembly wrestled with during the 2025 legislative session. They closed a $3.3 billion budget deficit through $2 billion in cuts and a plan to rake in over $1 billion more through new and increased taxes and fees, leaving some gubernatorial hopefuls with the feeling that there may be an opening for a fresh face at the Maryland State House. Here's a look at the field, including Moore, as we hit 2025's halfway mark. Democrats Wes Moore, the incumbent In spite of his limited political background, Gov. Wes Moore swept his gubernatorial election competitor, former Del. Dan Cox, a Frederick County Republican, after at least 13 other hopefuls put their hats in the ring during the 2022 gubernatorial election. As he approaches his first gubernatorial reelection campaign, the 46-year-old popular Maryland governor has campaign funds clocking in at nearly $5 million. A rising star in the Democratic Party, Moore has enjoyed the national spotlight during his first term in situations both ideal and tragic. The governor, who has enjoyed the company of political heavy-hitters, including former President Joe Biden, and spoke at the 2024 Democratic National Convention as the party prepared to tap Vice President Kamala Harris as its nominee. He has also received recognition from Hollywood icon George Clooney, who said on CNN that Moore could be a viable presidential candidate. Moore has publicly said he is not interested in running for president in 2028. The nation's eyes were also on Moore in the aftermath of the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024, which in its wake killed six and crippled activity at the Port of Baltimore. Through a coordinated effort with state and federal officials, he was able to reopen the port three months later. Though gaining prominence within the Democratic Party, Moore, a military veteran, faced national criticism for incorrectly claiming on a 2006 White House fellowship application that he was a Bronze Star recipient. Moore has also seen a recent dip in his approval rating after forging a plan with leadership in the Maryland General Assembly to increase taxes in his attempt to fill the state's recent $3.3 billion structural budget deficit. Ed Hale The 78-year-old Democratic Baltimore businessman and former banker Edwin "Ed" Hale Sr. announced his plans to run for governor in early May, despite not filing his official paperwork to do so yet. The Sun reported that Hale's campaign is centered around curbing juvenile crime and improving Maryland's business landscape, noting that Six Flags America in Prince George's County is closing permanently, the Washington Commanders are likely leaving the state, and Trump upended plans to build the FBI's new headquarters in Greenbelt as previously planned in reference to Maryland's current business environment. The founder and former head of the First Mariner Bancorp, the holding company of the Baltimore-based Mariner Bank, Hale is a businessman who established trucking and shipping companies. He is the current owner of the Baltimore Blast, the city's indoor professional soccer team. Republicans Christopher Bouchat Republican candidate Bouchat, a self-proclaimed "conservative" representing Carroll and Frederick Counties, recently told The Sun he plans to run for governor, though he has yet to file with the State Board of Elections. Among his campaign priorities are "limited government," "personal freedom" and "economic free markets." An occasional lightning rod for controversy, Bouchat is rounding out his first term in the Maryland House of Delegates. He is the chairman of Bouchat Industries, Inc., a metal and welding business he founded in 1994. Previously, Bouchat served on the Board of Carroll County Commissioners and the Carroll County Board of Health. John Myrick Republican John Myrick is the only candidate who has officially filed to run, listing former state Del. Brenda Thiam, the first Black woman Republican to serve in the Maryland House of Delegates, as his running mate. The 60-year-old candidate is a former senior federal intelligence officer, Harford County deputy sheriff and member of the U.S. Air Force Reserves. Myrick's campaign centers on improving business development in the state, and he aims to create a combination of private and public sector jobs, improve the education system, public safety, and address the budget deficit. Myrick ran an unsuccessful primary campaign against popular former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan in the 2024 race to replace outgoing U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, a Democrat. Kurt Wedekind A 60-year-old Carroll County farmer, Kurt Wedekind plans to center his campaign on lowering the high taxes that he said forced his family and friends out of the state. After contracting Lyme Disease, Wedekind opened Wedekind Farms in Westminster, where he and his family sell natural grass-fed beef and pork. Because of his condition, he plans to prioritize improving health outcomes, and said he shares various sentiments with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Wedekind also plans to platform on reducing government spending. "Our campaign represents a majority of people who live in this state," he told The Sun. The farmer said he will launch a website soon and is looking for a running mate. The Green Party Andy Ellis Andy Ellis is a 48-year-old Green Party candidate and a resident of Northeast Baltimore. He stresses the importance of healthy debate in his campaign messaging and calls for Maryland Public Television to change its "arbitrary" debate rules to support the inclusion of all gubernatorial candidates. Ellis is prioritizing the creation of a "multiparty democracy." He also wants to declare a climate emergency in the state, invest in community organizations, and develop an alternative "solidarity economy." Ellis has a unique focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, advocating for the United States to "end all military, economic, and diplomatic support for Israel and push for peace, democracy and justice for all people in Israel and Palestine." He told The Sun in late May that he hadn't filed to run because he was still in the process of choosing a running mate. Ellis previously worked at Nielsen, a media data and analytics company, and has coached debate teams at the Baltimore Urban Debate League and Towson University. Another possibility? Former Gov. Larry Hogan Former Gov. Larry Hogan, Moore's 69-year-old, popular Republican predecessor, served as Maryland's governor from 2015 to 2023, during which time he publicly battled Trump and led the state through the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. He lost the 2024 race to replace outgoing U.S. Senator Ben Cardin against Democrat Angela Alsobrooks. Hogan declined to discuss any possible plans for another gubernatorial run last week. "I'm enjoying retirement," Hogan said. ---------- Reporter Hannah Gaskill contributed to this report. -------------- Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Republican majorities named to North Carolina's 100 local election boards
Republicans now hold majorities on all of North Carolina's 100 county election boards, flipping the partisan control of these local authorities for the first time since 2016. The State Board of Elections and State Auditor Dave Boliek appointed a new slate of county election officials Tuesday, giving the GOP a 3-2 majority on each board. The newly Republican state board also approved a plan seeking to collect additional registration information from nearly 200,000 voters, some of whom were challenged in the state's chaotic six-month legal battle over the results of the 2024 Supreme Court race. President Donald Trump's administration has sued the state demanding that it address the missing information. Tuesday's appointments are the latest step in the overhaul of North Carolina's election apparatus, per legislation passed in the final days of Republicans' supermajority in the General Assembly last year. Lawmakers stripped Democratic Gov. Josh Stein of his appointments to the State Board of Elections and transferred them to Boliek, a Republican. A trial court initially struck down this transfer as unconstitutional, noting that it broke with over a century of precedent. The state's Republican-controlled appellate courts, however, reversed the lower ruling and allowed the law to take effect. Auditor Dave Boliek appointed a 3-2 Republican majority to the state board, which quickly voted to oust its longtime director and replace her with a lawyer who has worked for the state's top legislative leaders. Replacing county election board members was the next step in the law's implementation. Previously, the state board selected two Republicans and two Democrats for each county board from a list submitted by the local political parties. The governor then appointed a chair to each board, which determined the partisan majority. Now, that chair appointment power resides with the auditor, Boliek, who selected a slate of Republicans to lead the boards. Among Boliek's appointees is Linda Rebuck, who will chair the Henderson County Board of Elections. Last year, Rebuck was reprimanded by the State Board of Elections for spreading 'false and misleading statements' to state lawmakers and advocating for Republicans to win the 2024 elections. Asked why Rebuck was selected, a spokesperson for Boliek said: 'Chairs were picked based on conversations with a variety of stakeholders across the state and careful deliberation. It's our belief that the appointed chairs will execute their management of county boards of elections to the best of their ability, and in accordance with state and federal laws and state board guidance.' Also at Tuesday's meeting, the state board unanimously approved a multi-step plan to collect missing voter registration information from roughly 194,000 voters. Beginning with a series of mailers this summer, the board will ask these voters to provide either a driver's license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number to complete the state's records. The missing information, which is required by the national Help America Vote Act, has sparked numerous legal challenges, including the recent lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice. The HAVA information also formed the basis for Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin's main challenge of his 2024 election loss, in which he argued that voters who lacked these numbers should have their votes thrown out. The plan approved Tuesday will begin this summer by sending a series of mailers to voters who lack the required information in the state's database. Of those affected voters, 98,000 will have to cast provisional ballots in future elections until they provide the information. That triggers a special review of each ballot after Election Day. However, Executive Director Sam Hayes noted that records show that another 96,000 of the affected voters complied with HAVA when they registered to vote, even though the state does not have a driver's license or Social Security number on file for them. This could be due to a matching problem with national databases that isn't the fault of voters, he said. Those voters will be able to vote regularly, though the board will continue to try to collect the missing information from them. Meanwhile, county boards of elections will review their own records to determine if they already have the missing information, but hadn't entered it into the state's databases.

21-06-2025
- Politics
North Carolina Green Party retains official status despite failing vote thresholds
RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Green Party will remain an official party in North Carolina, able to field candidates statewide through the 2028 elections, even though their 2024 nominees for governor and president failed to get the votes required by state law. The Republican-led State Board of Elections voted 3-2 on Thursday to continue recognizing the North Carolina Green Party, potentially affecting close contests for president, U.S. Senate and governor or other statewide and local offices. Without Thursday's action, the party would have joined four other small parties who also failed to reach the vote thresholds necessary and are thus no longer recognized — the Constitution, Justice for All, No Labels and We the People parties. None of their candidates received at least 2% of the total vote for governor or president to remain an official party. That means voters who are registered with those four parties are moved to unaffiliated status on voter rolls starting next week. Those groups also would have to collect about 14,000 signatures to regain official party status — an effort that takes time and money. But the North Carolina Green Party petitioned the board this spring to apply another standard. State law also says a group of voters can become a political party if they 'had a candidate nominated by that group on the general election ballot' in at least 35 states in the prior presidential election. The group presented a Federal Election Commission document showing Jill Stein, the Green Party nominee, appeared on the November 2024 ballot in 38 states. In seven states, however, she was not the nominee of the party or of a Green Party affiliate, according to the commission document. For example, she was an independent candidate in three of the seven. Democratic board member Jeff Carmon said he wasn't convinced the standard was met because Stein failed to be nominated in 35 states by the Green Party or an affiliate. Republican members decided otherwise. Although Stein may have been listed as the nominee for a different party or as independent, she was the national Green Party candidate, board Chairman Francis De Luca said. The three Republican members agreed that the North Carolina Green Party could remain an official party. The two Democrats voted no. The board shifted from a Democratic majority to a Republican majority last month after a 2024 state law took appointment authority away from the governor and to the state auditor. With Thursday's action, there will be four recognized political parties in North Carolina — Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and Green. As of last week, the largest bloc of North Carolina's 7.53 million registered voters are unaffiliated, at 2.85 million. About 4,000 voters are registered with the Green Party.


Toronto Star
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
North Carolina Green Party retains official status despite failing vote thresholds
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Green Party will remain an official party in North Carolina, able to field candidates statewide through the 2028 elections, even though their 2024 nominees for governor and president failed to get the votes required by state law. The Republican-led State Board of Elections voted 3-2 on Thursday to continue recognizing the North Carolina Green Party, potentially affecting close contests for president, U.S. Senate and governor or other statewide and local offices.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Thousands of NC voters to see a change in their party affiliation
CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Some North Carolina voters might notice a surprise next time they check their voter registration: their party affiliation may have changed. On Tuesday, June 24, roughly 34,000 voters previously affiliated with the Constitution, Justice for All, No Labels, or We the People parties will be shifted to 'unaffiliated' status in the state's official voter database, according to the NC State Board of Elections. This change follows a decision by the State Board of Elections after these parties lost their official recognition under state law. To stay recognized, political parties in North Carolina must meet certain performance benchmarks, like securing at least 2% of the vote in a statewide race for president or governor. YOUR LOCAL ELECTION HQ: Controversial bills await action from Governor Stein In the 2024 general election, candidates from these four parties reportedly didn't meet that mark. The Green Party is the only exception. Despite falling short of the vote requirement, the party was reinstated after proving its presidential candidate appeared on the general election ballot in at least 70% of states, a separate qualification under state law, officials said. As of now, only four political parties are officially recognized in North Carolina: Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and Green. All other voters are considered unaffiliated. For those unsure of their status, the State Board recommends checking online using the Voter Search Tool. Registration updates can also be made through the North Carolina DMV. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.