Maryland Democrats met their goal to contest every State House race

Maryland Democrats have fielded a candidate in all 188 General Assembly races as the party tries to run up the score in its dominance of state politics.

The goal is part of the Maryland Democratic Party’s “Contest Every Seat” initiative, something the party hasn’t done since 1974.

Sometimes it was an easy ask, other times, prodding and cajoling was necessary, Maryland Democratic Party Chair Steuart Pittman said in an interview. Party activists shared names, worked the phones and sometimes brought in Pittman as the closer to make the final pitch to prospective candidates.

“We’re giving people a choice,” said Pittman, who is also the Anne Arundel County executive. “And we think in this moment that there are a lot of people who are looking for a new political home.”

In order to get people to find their way to the Democrats, the party believes it has to put candidates on the ballot with a “D” next to their name.

Democratic Party members had to work hard in rural, conservative areas in the state to line up candidates. Sometimes, Pittman said, it was tough to convince community activists to sign up as candidates and reveal their Democratic identity.

Other times, Democrats wanted to run, but didn’t have much time or resources to devote to trying to win, especially in deeply Republican areas like the Eastern Shore and Western Maryland, Pittman acknowledged.

In some cases, it’s enough to at least put a name on a ballot and have a candidate willing to show up to community forums, officials said.

“A lot of it is party building,” said Joe Francaviglia, deputy director of the Maryland Democratic Party. “We want to win everywhere. But if not, volunteers have somewhere to go, energy has somewhere to go. Maybe we don’t win this time, but we win next time, or maybe the time after that.”

All Democratic candidates will get support from the state party. Those in targeted “red to blue” districts will have more options, including training in fundraising and campaigning, sharing of volunteer lists, connections to donors and networking with fellow candidates.

Democrats already hold more than two-thirds of seats in the House of Delegates and the state Senate. The governor, lieutenant governor, comptroller and attorney general are all Democrats.

The Maryland Democratic Party also increased its roster of candidates in county-level elections, but did not field 100%.

Republican state lawmakers weren’t impressed with the Democrats’ efforts.

Speaking to reporters in Annapolis, House of Delegates Minority Leader Del. Jason Buckel said he had no opponents until Democrats “picked someone out of the woods” to run against him.

“I don’t know, politically, how seriously that should be taken,” said Buckel, from Allegany County. He dismissed the Democratic Party as a “machine” that isn’t improving affordability and safety for Marylanders.

The Maryland Republican Party, meanwhile, had its own “Seat By Seat” initiative to recruit candidates. In a statement, Chair Nicole Beus Harris touted the “powerhouse team of candidates” that was recruited.

Democrats, she wrote, are “weighed down by years of failure and an unpopular Governor at the top of the ticket. We see a real opportunity for major victories with these strong Republican candidates leading the way.”

Banner reporter Madeleine O’Neill contributed to this article.