Green Party Candidate for Governor Andy Ellis Calls on General Assembly to Stop New Data Centers in August Special Session
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 17, 2026
CONTACT: Andy Ellis
andy@gogreen2026.com
Primary voters just removed pro-data-center politicians across Maryland. New York just halted the industry statewide. Now it is time for Maryland to act.
Andy Ellis and Owen Silverman Andrews, the Green Party candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor of Maryland, today called on the General Assembly to use its August 3–5 special session to pass a bipartisan statewide ban on the construction, permitting, and planning of new data centers, and to pass it with a veto-proof majority.
The call comes after primary voters across Maryland removed pro-data-center incumbents from office last month. In Frederick County, the council president lost his seat while candidates running against the data center buildout won. In Calvert County, voters ousted all three commissioners who had voted against a data center moratorium.
"I have been traveling across the state of Maryland to communities that are fighting against the tech companies and the politicians that are doing their bidding," said Ellis. "It is absolutely clear to me that the people want their politicians to stop the data centers, and if they won't, they will elect new politicians that will stop them."
Ellis has been calling for a ban since last year. He has stood with communities fighting data center projects in Frederick, Montgomery, Prince George's, Calvert, Charles, Baltimore County, and Baltimore City.
“When we collectively come together to say enough is enough, those elected to public office must carry our voices into policy change. It’s not enough for us to organize we need Maryland politicians to step up and legislate our demands” Said Taylor Frazier McCollum, a leader of the fight against data centers in Prince George’s County, and an Ellis/Andrews campaign volunteer “With each county fighting separately the data center industry has the upper hand. With a statewide ban we return power to the people! “
Other states are moving. New York's legislature passed a one-year moratorium on permits for new large data centers in June by wide margins, and this week Governor Kathy Hochul followed with an executive order halting permitting of new large-scale facilities. New York is now the first state in the nation to stop the industry at the state level.
"While we appreciate the moratoriums, we are calling for a full stop on the data centers, because we do not accept the propaganda from the industry or the pro-data-center politicians that says this industry's growth is inevitable," said Ellis. "We believe that the people of Maryland and our elected officials get to decide that, and we believe Maryland should listen to its people and say ‘stop the data centers’. Legislators and their staff should spend the next few weeks focused on writing policy that advances the people’s wishes and pass it at the special session."
A veto-proof majority on data centers already exists in Annapolis. In December 2025, the General Assembly overrode Governor Wes Moore's veto of a bipartisan data center impact study. Lawmakers from both parties have already overruled the governor on this industry once. The special session puts every legislator back in the State House for three days. The campaign is calling on the presiding officers to put a statewide ban on the agenda and on legislators of both parties to pass it with margins the governor cannot veto away.
About the Ellis/Andrews Campaign
Andy Ellis and Owen Silverman Andrews are running for Governor and Lt. Governor as Green Party candidates. You can learn more about the campaign at https://www.gogreen2026.com/.