Dayvon Love
Director of Public Policy
Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle
A September 2023 Pew Research report found that 37% of all adults in the US believe that the statement “I wish there were more political parties to choose from” represented their beliefs “extremely well.” Another 31% of adults in the US said that the same statement represented their feelings “somewhat well.” This data provides an evidentiary basis for the observation that the American public, in general, has become increasingly alienated by the two major political parties. This tracks with the fact that both the Republican Party and Democratic Party have been engaged in ideological civil wars within their ranks over the last several years. The internal clashes within both parties are animated by dissatisfaction with their respective party’s establishment. The question we have to ask ourselves is, why is to so difficult for political parties outside of the Democrats and the Republicans to produce viable candidates for office?
An important aspect of the answer to this question is that there are structural political dynamics that have been put in place that protects the current political arrangement. A good example of this in Maryland is the issue of access to the debate stage for statewide candidates for public office. Maryland Public Television (MPT) is a public agency that has hosted statewide candidates debates for several election cycles. The importance of these debates is that it provides the public an opportunity to get a better sense of the policy positions of each of the candidates, in an adversarial environment that provides a serious test of the ideas that are proposed. It’s one thing for an elected official to give a speech about what they believe, it’s another to have to defend those ideas in a context where other folks are rigorously testing them. The impact of hosting debates that exclusively invite Democrats and Republicans is that neither party has to engage rigorous test of ideas from 3rd party candidates whose perspectives may be more reflective of the beliefs of those who say that they “wish there were more political parties to choose from.”
In Maryland’s general election this cycle there are 4 candidates that appear on the ballot for governor, but only 2 of them have been invited to participate in MPT’s October 6th gubernatorial debate. Obviously, Democratic Party nominee governor Wes Moore and Republican nominee Dan Cox are scheduled to take the debate stage against each other. The exclusion of the other candidates from the October 6th debate reinforces the idea to the general public that there are only two viable political options. That means that many of the more radical policy positions that have bases of support in Maryland will not have an opportunity to have those ideas considered, allowing the two major parties to avoid being confronted with the ways that they both have been vehicles for maintaining the system of white supremacy. This is particularly important in challenging the Democratic Party which is hegemonic in Maryland. Democrats have a veto-proof majority in the state legislature and have a 2:1 advantage over Republicans regarding registered voters in Maryland. The Democratic Party in general, and governor Moore in particular needs to be confronted publicly about why they haven’t taken a systemic and aggressive approach to challenging the right wing propaganda machine of David Smith’s Sinclair Broadcasting and the Baltimore Sun. The Democrats need to be challenged on their unwillingness to explicitly call for a ban on data centers in Maryland. They need to be pressed on their unwillingness to publicly challenge the settler colonial project of Israel and its complicity with system of white supremacy, that complicity taking the form of the Zionists supporting right wing forces like the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) and Israel’s vote in the UN against the declaration of chattel slavery as a crime against humanity. These are a few examples of important policy questions that have bases of support in Maryland, but because 3rd parties are excluded from the debate, will not get raised in a way that represents more radical politics.
The exclusion of 3rd party candidates from the October 6th debate is not based necessarily on an ideological commitment to the Democratic Party, but an institutional commitment. This is best illustrated by exchanges revealed by emails that were made public by the Green Party’s candidate for governor, Andy Ellis, who acquired internal MPT communications through a public information act request. During the 2026 Maryland General Assembly my organization, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle (LBS), advocated for a bill (HB 101) that would condition state funding on MPT inviting all candidates that appear on the statewide general election ballot to participate in a general election debate. This bill did not pass and was opposed by representatives of MPT. In Andy Ellis’ platform he says that MPT’s budget should be increased, and people within MPT become concerned that they might be accused of quiet collaboration with him. Richard Bodorff says in one email exchange to folks within MPT, “I wonder if it might be prudent at some point to get word to our principal supporters (the Governor, Senator King, and our champion in the house), that we didn’t put Ellis up to this and first learned of the initiative in the press. Wouldn’t want any of our friends to think we were behind this.” This demonstrates an institutional and professional commitment to the Democratic Party, even though Ellis’ policies would be beneficial to MPT. This is an illustration of the structural impediments to the development of viable alternatives to the two major parties.
I am clear that none of the non-major party candidates have a chance at beating governor Moore (Dan Cox doesn’t really have a shot either). So the purpose of including the additional candidates is not that it would impact this current election, but it would help to publicly expose the counter revolutionary nature of the Democratic Party, in order to enhance the viability of 3rd party candidates who will advocate for radical policies that can support the broader project of Black Liberation. Black people are a captured electorate of the Democratic Party. The Republican Party is more explicit in its white nationalist ideological commitments, so as a people, of the two major parties we have no where to go. The exclusion of 3rd parties from MPT’s gubernatorial debate is an extension of the political hostage holding of Black people within the Democratic Party in order to keep us from having options that truly represent revolutionary politics.