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Maryland election officials will certify the results of last month’s Democratic and Republican primary elections Thursday, but not before the Maryland Green Party announced its own 2026 nominees.
The Greens, frozen out of the state-run primary elections, held their own online primary over the past two weeks and announced the winners on the party’s website Wednesday.
None of the eight party members who are running for state and federal office this fall faced any primary opposition. But come November, they’ll face the perennial test of standing up to the two-party apparatus.
Running for the state’s highest office will be longtime Green Party activists Andy Ellis and Owen Andrews, for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively.
“The goal is to have the best third-party campaign since Reconstruction,” Ellis said at the party’s July 11 convention. “I think we’re on a good pace to do that. And I think if we can get that in this race, we can build a foundation for the next 25 years of the Green Party that allows us to be the party that makes significant change.”
The future of the more than 25-year old party rests in their hands, as they need to win at least 1% of the vote in their race this year in order for the party to retain its ballot status in the next election cycle, without having to collect petition signatures to get on the ballot.
That’s often a high hurdle in itself — registered Greens number just more than 6,100 in a state of more than 4.3 million registered voters, and the party fell shy of the 1% mark in the last gubernatorial election, when Nancy Wallace won 0.73% of the vote.
Wallace returns to the Green Party ballot this fall, when she will run in the 8th Congressional District against Republican Cheryl Riley and the well-funded Democratic incumbent, Rep. Jamie Raskin.
Wallace is one of three congressional hopefuls nominated by the Greens this year. In the 4th District, Sam Husseini won the Green Party nomination to run against Republican nominee George McDermott and incumbent Rep. Glenn Ivey, a Democrat.
And in the 6th District, Moshe Landman will face perennial Republican candidate Robin Ficker and incumbent Dcmocratic Rep. April McClain Delaney who just survived a costly primary against David Trone, the former congressman from the district. Trone loaned his own campaign $25 million for the race, while McClain Delaney pumped $11 million of her own money into her campaign.
Three nominees for state and county seats were also selected following affirmation by the party’s coordinating council Wednesday evening.
For Howard County Executive, the party nominated Nater Kane, who will face Del. Vanessa Atterbeary, with no Republican challenger.
Party Co-Chair Renaud Brown will run for delegate in Baltimore’s 45th District, competing for one of three seats against three Democrats: former Del. Chanel Branch and current incumbent Dels. Jackie Addison and Caylin Young.
Lastly, Artiium Arbyummi will represent the party in the race for commissioner in Charles County’s 4th District against incumbent Democrat Ralph Patterson II.
All those nominations will become final when the party submits its final list of candidates to the Maryland State Board of Elections by Aug. 3.
Ellis, leading the party’s November ballot, said that he hopes to gain enough momentum this cycle to make a push for seats in the General Assembly next. He and other nominees placed a heavy emphasis on banning data centers, divesting from Israel and expanding democracy in the state.
“We believe that this work is important, we believe that this work is based on people, and we’re not afraid of anybody,” he said. “We will go where it takes in order to spread the message because we believe that people are ready to hear it.”
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