Three Southern Maryland Petition Candidates Make November Ballot

SOUTHERN MARYLAND — Three of the six unaffiliated Southern Maryland candidates who attempted to reach the November general election ballot through petitions successfully qualified, while three others were marked unsuccessful by the Maryland State Board of Elections.

The candidates who qualified are Steve Jones for Calvert County commissioner at large, Eric Vrem for Charles County commissioner in District 4 and incumbent Mike Alderson Jr. for St. Mary’s County commissioner in District 3.

The Maryland State Board of Elections’ general election candidate list, last updated Sept. 1, lists all three as active petition candidates.

Jones said in a statement to The BayNet that the scale of the petition effort became clear shortly after he began collecting signatures. With about three weeks to qualify, he relied on friends, relatives, supporters and people he had not previously met to help circulate petitions.

“What started as my effort to get on the ballot became our effort,” Jones said.

He said qualifying left him grateful to those who helped his campaign and gave Calvert County voters another option in the at-large commissioner race.

“Getting on the ballot wasn’t the finish line. It was the starting line,” Jones said. “It reminded me why I’m running in the first place: to listen to the people of Calvert County, to make sure everyone has a seat at the table, and to bring an independent voice to county government.”

Vrem also announced that he had qualified, crediting voters and volunteers who helped circulate his petitions.

“Now we have the opportunity to have an honest conversation about the future of District 4 and the kind of leadership our community deserves,” Vrem said in a campaign post. “I am running to bring independent leadership that puts residents before politics.”

The three successful petitions add another candidate to each affected race.

Jones will compete for one of Calvert County’s two at-large commissioner seats against Democrats Judy Pedersen and Antoine White and Republicans Jason Scaggs and Patti Stueckler.

In Charles County, Vrem will face Democratic incumbent Ralph Patterson II and Green Party candidate Artiium Arbyummi in District 4.

Alderson, who is seeking another term on the St. Mary’s County Board of Commissioners, will face Democrat Joshua Kyte and Republican John O’Connor in District 3.

Jonathan Burruss and Brian Jordan, who sought to run in Maryland’s 5th Congressional District, were marked as unsuccessful petition candidates, according to the state’s candidate records. The same status is listed for Anbrea McCoy, who sought a House of Delegates seat in District 28.

Those three petition campaigns were marked unsuccessful by the State Board of Elections on Aug. 11. Their absence leaves the 5th Congressional District contest between Democratic nominee Adrian Boafo and Republican nominee Chris Chaffee, along with a declared write-in candidate. District 28 will feature three Democrats and three Republicans competing for the district’s three House seats.

Maryland law allows unaffiliated candidates to qualify for the general election ballot through petitions rather than the partisan primary process. Filing a declaration of intent alone does not guarantee ballot access.

Petition candidates had until Aug. 3 to submit their signatures and remaining candidacy documents. Election officials then reviewed the petitions to determine whether enough signatures were valid.

The general election is Nov. 3.

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