Ellis Challenges Moore and Cox to Four-Candidate Data Center Debate After MACo Forum Excludes Half the Ballot
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 17, 2026
CONTACT: Andy Ellis andy@gogreen2026.com
Green Party nominee says conference panels treated the data center buildout as inevitable while communities across Maryland are saying no.
BALTIMORE — Andy Ellis and Owen Silverman Andrews, the Green Party nominees for Governor and Lt. Governor of Maryland, today criticized the Maryland Association of Counties for hosting a gubernatorial candidate forum that included only two of the four candidates on the November ballot. The campaign is challenging Moore and Cox to join a debate with all four candidates devoted entirely to data center policy.
"I am disappointed that MACo would host a governor's candidate forum that only included Dan Cox, the Republican, and Wes Moore, the Democrat," Ellis said. "There are four candidates from four parties on the ballot, and to only invite two of them is a political choice that violates MACo's commitment to host a non-partisan conference."
The campaign challenges Moore and Cox to a debate among all four candidates for governor that does a deep dive on data center policy: how Maryland regulates and taxes existing data centers, what those facilities owe the communities and counties they are in, how local and state governments ensure public input and transparency, and the future of the industry in the state.
"If Dan Cox thinks data centers are a key part of his campaign, and Wes Moore thinks they are key to Maryland's future, then they should show up on a stage with all four candidates for governor and have an in-depth debate about this," Ellis said. "We can do it in Adamstown, or Lusby, or Landover, or Newburg. We should have an audience and questions informed by the communities' concerns."
Saturday's forum at the MACo summer conference in Ocean City featured Gov. Wes Moore and Republican nominee Dan Cox, who told the audience that hyperscale data centers are "a big difference between Wes Moore and me." Four tickets will appear on the November 3 ballot: Moore and Aruna Miller (Democratic), Cox and Rob Krop (Republican), Ellis and Silverman Andrews (Green), and Cathy White and Cathy Permut (Working Class Party). The campaign called in July for a series of four-candidate debates across the state.
The forum was not the only problem. Conference panels on data centers treated the buildout as a done deal. An official from Gov. Moore's own energy office urged county leaders to use their moratoriums to "make your wish list," and PJM's Jason Stanek told attendees, "We see this train coming and it's coming fast." Counties across the state, including Baltimore County, Baltimore City,Prince George's, Frederick, Montgomery, Howard, and Washington, have paused data center development in response to community opposition. Harford County has a full ban.
"Grassroots movements and the people we elect decide Maryland's future, not unelected people sitting on a panel at a conference in Ocean City," said Taylor Frazier McCollum, the campaign's data center organizer. "Those in power want us to believe data centers are inevitable, but I have seen people power move officials in Prince George's County, in Frederick, in Calvert, across the state. Residents want a ban, and we are organizing for it every day. If we elected you, we can vote you out."
The campaign is finalizing a comprehensive data center policy, informed by the grassroots campaigns across the state it has been organizing with, and will release it later this month.
Ellis will be in Frederick this evening for a meet and greet with voters. On Tuesday he will be in Calvert County in the morning for a rally and a moratorium hearing before the Calvert County Board of Commissioners, and in Charles County that evening to support Green Party candidates. On Sunday, August 23, he will be in Baltimore rallying for a ban on data centers in Baltimore City.
About the Ellis/Andrews Campaign
Andy Ellis and Owen Silverman Andrews are running for Governor and Lt. Governor on the Green Party ticket. Get more info at gogreen2026.com.