By Steve Crane | Editor-in-chief
“We claim to be living in a democracy, yet they put up all these barriers to having third parties in the first place. The two-party system is a trap that we’re stuck in, like this ping-pong game, just going back and forth, and we’re all the losers for it.” - Cathy White, the gubernatorial nominee for the Working Class Party, on the exclusion of third-party candidates from Tuesday’s debate on Maryland Public Television.
How many is too many for a debate stage? And can the Trump administration make up its mind on the Chesapeake Bay? A couple questions to get your brain firing as we head back into the working week.
Gubernatorial nominees for the Green Party and the Working Class Party say there’s no reason they shouldn’t be on the stage with the GOP and Democratic nominees tomorrow for the only scheduled debate of the campaign. But Maryland Public Television is standing firm, saying the third-party candidates have not met the criteria it set and won’t be part of the debate, as Pera Onal reports.
Just weeks after President Donald Trump canceled an Obama-era executive order that said the federal government should take the lead on bay cleanup, the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday announced $90 million in grants for state and local governments and private organizations to pursue cleanup projects. Shannon Heckt from our sister publication, the Virginia Mercury, has that story.
Those stories, plus a look at the watermen who could be affected by cuts to the menhaden harvest, are below with other news and headlines from the week to ease you into this Monday. Enjoy!
Eight Democratic gubernatorial candidates took the stage for a 2022 primary debate. That has two third-party candidates this year asking why they can't join the two major-party candidates on the stage Tuesday for the only debate in this campaign. (File photo by Bruce DePuyt/Maryland Matters)
By Pera Onal
There are four candidates on the ballot for governor this fall. There will be two on stage Tuesday for the only scheduled debate of the campaign. To Andy Ellis and Cathy White, that doesn't seem right.
Ellis, the Green Party nominee, and White, the nominee of the Working Class Party, have continued, without success, to push for inclusion in the debate being held by Maryland Public Television. But MPT says only Gov. Wes Moore, the Democratic nominee, and Republican nominee Dan Cox met the criteria to be on the stage.
According to MPT, which is broadcasting the upcoming debate, candidates must be polling at 10% to be eligible to participate in their broadcast debate, among other criteria. That's tough to do, notes Ellis, when most polls don't include candidates besides Moore and Cox in their questions to voters. But in an email Friday, MPT reiterated its position, telling Ellis he had "failed to demonstrate a significant candidacy" through polling, by "demonstrated voter interest" for previous office, substantial media coverage or "financial resources, sizeable volunteer efforts, or large turnouts at campaign stops."
A living shoreline project on the James River. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)
By Shannon Heckt
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi announced Friday that the agency will disburse $37 million to localities to aid Chesapeake Bay pollution reduction and cleanup efforts. An additional $53 million in matching grant funds will be awarded to 83 projects across the watershed, 32 of them Maryland-based.
Fotouhi explained that the money would be split between the Chesapeake Small Watersheds Grants Program and the Chesapeake Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grants Program. The former fuels projects that directly support clean water, habitat restoration and species protection. The latter consists of projects that help implement agricultural strategies, stormwater best practices, and other methods that prevent sediment, phosphorus, and nitrogen from ending up in the Bay.
Bay organizations welcomed the collaborative funding, which are awarded through the EPA and are coordinated by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a nonprofit chartered by Congress. They are a key to achieving goals identified by federal, state, and local partnerships through the Chesapeake Bay Program. The annual grant comes just weeks after President Donald Trump repealed an Obama-era order that directed the federal government to take a leadership role in bay cleanup efforts.
IN OTHER NEWS
States brace for election interference: A month from Election Day, President Donald Trump’s long-running campaign to bend the U.S. election system to his will is nearing a decisive moment, and states are fighting back or prepping their responses.
OPM replaces ‘loyalty’ question for job applicants: As agencies walk back the Trump administration’s "loyalty" essay question from federal job postings, OPM wants it replaced with a new prompt, about carrying out a policy the applicant disagreed with.
Little fish, big worries: An Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission vote in November on whether menhaden are overharvested in the Chesapeake Bay will be closely watched by workers who pursue the fish now, and worry cuts could cost them their jobs.
MATTERS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED
Maryland lawmakers push for menhaden cuts: A bipartisan group of Maryland legislators is pushing for fishery managers to institute further restrictions on the harvest of Atlantic menhaden, a small fish that sits at the base of the Chesapeake Bay food chain.
Trump stumps in red states swing: President Donald Trump kicked off a month-long blitz of campaign stops in advance of the midterm elections with a Thursday rally in deep-red Oklahoma before heading to other states with strong Republican leanings.
Raskin wants probe of Trump ads: Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-8th) is calling for a federal investigation of taxpayer-funded television spots that heavily promote President Donald Trump, which are airing just weeks before the midterm elections.
Political notes: "Eric's ID Law" is popular, but you've arrived with Faith Evans and P-Funk's George Clinton in your corner, Gov. Wes Moore names enough judges for a softball team and Montgomery County seeks police advisory panel members, in political notes.
MOST-READ STORIES OF THE WEEK
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