Maryland third-party candidates clear 1% vote threshold

Andy Ellis secured 2.06 percent of the vote for Maryland governor as of Thursday afternoon. Cathy White of the Working Class Party followed closely with 1.97 percent. Both figures exceed the 1 percent threshold required for political parties to maintain official recognition by the Maryland State Board of Elections. Neither party had crossed that line in recent gubernatorial races.

The results leave Democratic nominee Wes Moore in the lead with nearly 63 percent of the vote. Republican candidate Dan Cox holds 33 percent. While the major party candidates vie for the governor’s mansion, Ellis and White achieved a different objective. They prevented their parties from losing ballot access, a status that triggers a labor-intensive restoration process.

When a party’s vote share for the top office falls below 1 percent, it loses recognized status. To regain a place on the ballot, the party must collect 10,000 signatures from registered voters. The Maryland Green Party has endured this process multiple times in the past. Party members describe the effort as time-intensive, diverting energy away from day-to-day party building and candidate training.

Ellis, who ran with vice presidential pick Owen Silverman Andrews, acknowledged that his ticket had little chance of winning the general election. His campaign focused instead on accumulating a sufficient number of votes to ensure the party remained on the ballot for future contests. In a statement, Ellis said the secured access gives the Maryland Green Party the space to identify, train, and support new candidates in various races across the state.

The 2026 vote totals mark a sharp rise for both minor parties compared to previous cycles. In 2022, the Green Party ticket of Nancy Wallace and Patrick Elder received 0.73 percent of the vote. The Working Class Party ticket, featuring David Harding and White, earned 0.86 percent. In 2018, the Green Party ticket of Ian Schlakman and Annie Chambers garnered 0.5 percent, while the Working Class Party did not field a gubernatorial candidate.

Ellis described his effort as a scrappy, do-it-yourself campaign. He aimed to show up for working class Marylanders rather than dictating an agenda to voters. The Green Party ran candidates for Congress, the state General Assembly, Howard County executive, and Charles County commissioner this year. The Working Class Party also fielded candidates for the General Assembly.

Final ballots were still being counted as of Thursday. The performance of Ellis and White ensures that the Green and Working Class parties will remain active participants in Maryland politics without needing to restart the signature collection process for the next election cycle.