Weekly Newsletter: March 1, 2026

In February we focused entirely on multiparty democracy. Debate access, ballot access, proportional representation, ranked choice voting. That work will continue until November and beyond. But in March we're shifting our focus to the problems of big money in state and local politics and the ways to solve it. 

One way we address that problem is by using Maryland's public financing program. Every dollar from a state resident gets matched. This campaign doesn't take corporate money. It runs on small donations from people like you. If you can, donate now. If you can't, there are three ways to help this week and two of them are free.

What Happened This Week

Tuesday night the filing deadline closed for Republican and Democratic candidates. Of 118 state legislative races, 52 have no two-party general election. In the State Senate, 25 of 47 districts have only one major party on the ballot. We published the full analysis on Thursday and talked about it on our livestream as well.

Wednesday we were in Annapolis for five hearings. I delivered oral testimony on HB 1289, asking the committee to expand the voting methods task force to include proportional representation. We submitted written testimony on public financing for school boards, election technology, and the Community Trust Act. That's 15 testimonies this session.

Thursday night Carlos Orbe Jr. joined the livestream to talk about education policy and what the halfway point of the 90 day general assembly session looks like. Friday I went back to Annapolis for meetings with two more delegates on HB 101. 

The full week in review is here: February 22-28, 2026.

Meet Dr. Andrew Eneim

Dr. Andrew Eneim joined the campaign this week as our People and Organizing Lead. Andrew organized the graduate worker union at Johns Hopkins that represents over three thousand people. The vote was 97% yes in a secret ballot election. The contract he helped organize for won raises averaging 25%, with some workers seeing increases of $10,000 or more. He did that at one of the wealthiest institutions in the state, against one of the most sophisticated employer operations in Maryland.

He also organized on Franca Muller-Paz's 2020 Green Party campaign for Baltimore City Council, which earned 35% of the vote against a Democratic incumbent in one of the bluest cities in the country. Andrew knows what it takes to build support for candidates the system wasn't designed for.

Here's how he put it on the show last month: "I'm going to build relationships, and I'm going to be looking for people who have deep commitment, who I can build trust with, who will go find five more people to knock on doors or come to the farmers market. A real leader develops other leaders." That's the job. Not blast emails. Not social media ads. Actual conversations. Andrew is going to start reaching out this week. If you get a text from him, that's who it is. Talk to him. Tell him what matters to you. Tell him what's happening in your county. Watch his interview.

On Wednesday we're sending a press release to media outlets announcing Andrew's hire. We don't know if anyone will cover it. A Green Party campaign hiring a labor organizer isn't the kind of story that gets picked up. But we think it should be. So we're telling you first. If you think it's worth sharing, forward this email. 

What's Coming Up

Three Stories We're Watching

Education. We're releasing our education policy platform this week. Monday night the Baltimore Teachers Union will be in Annapolis rallying and lobbying on education bills. The right to strike. A $25 minimum wage for paraprofessionals and support staff. Better transit for students. Defending the Blueprint funding. Our platform aligns closely with these goals!  

The soccer stadium fight goes to hearing. HB 1078 is before the House Appropriations Committee on Tuesday at 1 PM. SB 883 is before the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday at 1 PM. The bills authorize nearly $217 million in state bonds for a minor league soccer stadium at Carroll Park. The money comes from sports wagering revenue that currently funds the Blueprint education fund. We'll be at both hearings.

HB 101 crossover countdown. Last week we did a lot of work in Annapolis on HB 101, the bill that will open up public television debates to third party candidates. This week we are pushing to get it to a vote in the House Government Labor and Elections Committee. 

Legislation

We're testifying on six bills this week across both chambers:

• Tue 3/3: HB 1078 (stadium, House Appropriations)
• Wed 3/4: HB 1378 (Corporate Power Reset), HB 1403 (Citizen Initiative), HB 1405 (Campaign Finance During Session), HB 1448 (Municipal Elections) — four hearings, one day
• Thu 3/5: SB 883 (stadium, Senate Finance)

Livestream

Thursday, March 5 at 7 PM on YouTube. Guest: Dr. Steve Llano, Associate Professor of Communication Studies at St. John's University and author of How to Watch Presidential Debates Without Losing It (Springer, 2025). Llano will discuss debate access and debate as civic education.

Three Things You Can Do This Week

• Help open the debate stage. Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle published an action alert urging legislators to grant third-party candidates access to publicly funded debate stages. HB 101 has momentum. The delegates  on the Government, Labor, and Elections, need to hear from you. The action alert takes two minutes. Sign it here.
• Opt into texts from Andrew. Andrew is building this campaign one conversation at a time. If you want to hear from him directly, click here to opt-in to texting. He's not going to spam you. He's going to talk to you.
• Donate.  We just hired Andrew. Now we need to give him the resources to reach people. That means gas money, printed materials, events, and the time to have real conversations across the state. This campaign doesn't take corporate money. It runs on small donations from people like you, and Maryland's public financing system matches every dollar from a state resident. Your donation gets doubled. Donate now.

If you've already donated this month, thank you. If you haven't, this is the ask. If you can't, signing the action alert or opting into texts matters just as much. Every action builds the campaign.

In solidarity,

Andy Ellis