PUBLIC BROADCASTING COMMISSION CHAIR’S CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
For Immediate Release
September 17, 2026
Contact: andy@gogreen2026.com | 443-320-5296
BALTIMORE, MD, September 17, 2026 — On Wednesday evening, Gubernatorial Candidate Andy Ellis (Maryland Green Party) detailed $12,000 in campaign contributions since the fall of 2024 from Richard and wife Ellen Bodorff to Governor Wes Moore.
The findings were released during Ellis’s regular livestream, where the candidate examined inconsistencies in Maryland Public Television's (MPT) debate invitation criteria.
Richard Bodorff chairs the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission, the state body that governs MPT and holds its FCC broadcast licenses. Governor Moore appointed him to that chairmanship in June of 2025.
State campaign finance records show that Richard and Ellen Bodorff have each given Moore $6,000 this election cycle, the maximum donation allowed under Maryland law. Richard Bodorff made the $6,000 contribution to Moore’s re-election efforts on November 21, 2024, two days after First Lady Dawn Moore appeared at the launch of MPT's Media Literacy Center. Ellen Bodorff's donations to Moore’s campaign, which began in April of 2025 and include in-kind contributions as well as cash, were also maxed out at $6,000.
The Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission was informed in May 2025 that the governor would appoint Mr. Bodorff to the position of chair, a position he took over formally on July 1, 2025. Under Maryland law, the Governor appoints all eleven members of the commission and names its chair.
"Appointments will always reflect relationships with the Governor’s administration,” Ellis said. “But MPT’s inconsistent debate-invitation policy clearly advantages Governor Moore. When the window of discourse is reduced to ‘Republican vs. Democrat, ’Marylanders miss out on what is politically possible.”
Ellis’s campaign has started a grassroots petition effort to open up the taxpayer-funded MPT debates to independent & third-party candidates. The petition can be found and signed at https://www.gogreen2026.com/debate
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Andy Ellis and Owen Silverman Andrews are the Maryland Green Party candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor. Their campaign is funded by small donors and refuses corporate or PAC contributions. Their campaign is focused on ending the duopoly in Maryland politics to Learn more at www.gogreen2026.com.