State of the Ballot: Filing Deadline Data Show 44 Percent of Maryland Legislative Races Lack Two-Party Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 26, 2026
CONTACT: Andy Ellis andy@gogreen2026.com
State of the Ballot: Filing Deadline Data Show 44 Percent of Maryland Legislative Races Lack Two-Party Competition
BALTIMORE, MD — The filing deadline for Maryland's 2026 Republican and Democratic candidates closed Tuesday at 9 PM. The Ellis/Andrews campaign, seeking the Green Party nomination for Governor and Lt. Governor, analyzed the filings.
The results: In the State Senate, 25 of 47 districts, 53 percent, have only one major party on the ballot. Republicans failed to field candidates in 22 Senate districts. In the House of Delegates, 27 of 71 contests have no two-party general election, with Republicans absent in 24. Democrats failed to file in 6 races statewide. Combined, 52 of 118 state legislative races, 44 percent, will have no two-party general election, covering 84 of 188 seats.
"In 2022, 27 of 71 delegate races had no two-party general election. Nineteen races had no contested election at all — primary or general. Twenty-one delegates went to Annapolis without a single voter having a choice. In 2026, 27 of 71 delegate contests again have only one major party. More than half the State Senate has no two-party contest. Republicans did not file in 22 districts. Democrats did not file in three. Forty-four percent of all legislative races have no two-party contest. That is not a healthy two-party system. " said Andy Ellis, seeking the Green Party nomination for Governor with running mate Owen Silverman Andrews.
The Ellis/Andrews campaign has supported legislation to change that, filing 15 testimonies this session on democracy, elections, and governance reform. Several bills currently before the General Assembly address electoral competition:
HB 0101 — Debate Access Act. Requires public broadcasters to include ballot-certified candidates in debates.
HB 0580 — Authorizes Montgomery County to adopt ranked choice voting.
HB 0962 — Extends public campaign financing to school board races.
HB 0568 — Public financing for state legislative campaigns.
HB 0499 — Modernizes the ballot petition process.
HB 0584 — Clean Maryland Democracy Amendment. Constitutional amendment for campaign finance reform.
HB 0052 — Voting Rights for All Act.
"We have testified fifteen times this session on democracy and elections reform. The bills are in committee. Public financing for legislative races. Ranked choice voting. Ballot petition modernization. A debate access law so public broadcasters can't exclude candidates who are on the ballot. The General Assembly can vote on every one of them before session ends. The question is whether they will. The two-party system is not producing competition. The answer is multiparty democracy. The legislative work builds that infrastructure, but it takes time. Right now, 52 General Assembly races have no two-party competition. The immediate answer is candidates," said Ellis.
Read the campaign's full testimony archive: newsletter.gogreen2026.com/tag/testimony/
The filing deadline applies to Republican and Democratic candidates. Maryland's Green Party and other non-principal parties file separately, with a deadline on July 6, 2026.
"Every candidate who files outside the two-party system contributes to something bigger than their own race. You knock on doors, you talk to neighbors who stopped believing anyone was going to show up for them, and you build an organization that lasts past Election Day. The major parties left dozens of districts with no competition. July 6 is the deadline for third-party and independent candidates. If your community has been written off, filing is how you push back," said Andrews.
The filing deadline data gave Ellis fresh evidence when he testified Wednesday before the House Government, Labor, and Elections Committee on HB 1289, a bill creating a task force to study approval voting and ranked choice voting. Ellis testified in favor with an amendment to expand the task force's scope to include proportional representation. In the 2022 House of Delegates elections, not one of 41 multi-member races produced a cross-party result.
"Better voting methods help in a crowded field. But in a district where 70 percent of voters belong to one party, a better counting method does not create competition where there is none. Proportional representation does. If 30 percent of voters in a district support a party, they elect roughly 30 percent of the seats. That is the reform that actually matches representation to voters. I asked the committee to let the task force study it. Give them real scope and let them follow the evidence," said Ellis.
Watch Ellis's full oral testimony: newsletter.gogreen2026.com/hb1289-rcv-task-force-proportional-representation/
Both advocates and legislators were receptive to the idea of including proportional representation in the task force's scope.
Ellis and Andrews discuss the filing deadline data and multiparty democracy on their weekly livestream tonight at 7 PM ET on YouTube, with guest Carlos Orbe Jr., founder of Mind-full Communications.
Watch live: youtube.com/@GoGreen2026
About the Ellis/Andrews Campaign
Andy Ellis and Owen Silverman Andrews are seeking the Green Party nomination for Governor and Lt. Governor of Maryland. Their campaign is publicly financed through small-dollar contributions. Learn more at gogreen2026.com.