Thanks to the great organizing efforts of our friends at West Virginia Citizen Action Group and a strong national grassroots movement, Senate Majority Leader Schumer and Sen. Manchin have agreed to a revised version of the Build Back Better bill (passed by the House but stalled in the Senate). The bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, has strong provisions on climate action, raising corporate tax revenue, and curbing Rx drug prices. Call our Maryland Senators (202-224-3121) and urge them to support the strongest version of the Act before they go on recess! 

We are also very concerned about the candidates that Maryland Republicans elected at the top of their ticket. The views of Dan Cox (the Republican nominee running for Governor with support from Trump) and Michael Peroutka (the Republican nominee running for Attorney General who has ties to neo-Confederate organizations)  pose a serious threat to some of our most vulnerable people and communities and to our democracy.  We can’t take the outcome for granted in the general election! It’s critical that we inform voters all over the state about what’s at stake. Please help us power our campaign in the next 99 days. See more and find out how to fight back in the Weekly Memo

Lots here you might miss: The Public Service Commission gives your local Exelon franchise unmonitored access to federal $. State panel mulls how to improve teaching while state school board extends provisional teacher tickets two more years; pressure applied to build the Beltway toll lanes; Dems push another pause in student loan repayment. And more.

What a week and what a Primary Season it’s been! We’re still awaiting final results in several races and jurisdictions but a number of outcomes are clear, especially for many of our 2022 Slate Candidates.   

But first, let’s highlight the statewide results. Democrats chose Wes Moore and Aruna Miller for Governor and Lieutenant Governor; Anthony Brown for Attorney General; and Brooke Lierman for Comptroller. All of these candidates and their campaigns garnered support across the state, made hundreds of speeches and appearances in which they talked about equity, justice, and building a better Maryland. Moore and Brown are both Army veterans, Miller and Lierman are both experienced lawmakers and proven progressive champions. Congratulations to all of them!

And congratulations to the Progressive Maryland Slate (launched last November) for their incredible campaign efforts over the past year. They have inspired us and galvanized tens of thousands of progressive voters from Frederick to Charles County and from Baltimore to Salisbury. We've got the whole story in the Memo; read on...

Winners and losers are still fresh news in the primary election results every day because Maryland makes election offices wait to process mail-in ballots until the polls close. So last Tuesday’s primary was just the beginning. Larry Hogan, having guaranteed that election results would trickle in slowly just in case yahoos needed time to fan claims of fraud, now dismisses his party's chances in the gubernatorial general election and moves serenely on to preach Maryland-style "moderation" with a side of presidential aspirations. But some other news you can use is fighting its way through the muddle. Read it here.

Tomorrow is the Primary Day, and election news doesn't stop bubbling right up to the deadline. But it is on the individual voter now, the only poll that counts. But: friends don't let friends miss elections; support one another in the solidarity of democracy.

Note that Progressive Maryland’s Weekly Memo will be sent early tomorrow (Tuesday, Primary Election Day) and it’ll be about… well, guess what?

The supposed “Democratic Sample Ballots” produced by a Slate Committee using our name have not been authorized or approved by Progressive Maryland staff or its board of directors. We have asked candidates using this Slate committee to cease using the New Era Slate Committee resources for any further production or distribution of these sample ballots immediately. 

It’s here! Voters are voting by mail, heading to early voting sites July 7-14, or making their plans to vote on Election Day, next Tuesday, July 19th. Sample ballots contain information about early voting and Election Day locations. If you requested a ballot please complete and mail by next Monday or drop at a secure drop box in your jurisdiction. 

If you’re still reviewing the candidates and weighing your choices, check out our full list of endorsed candidates.

We’d love to see a strong turnout and great victories for all the dedicated progressives who are running up and down the ballot. Please help us achieve these outcomes! Your vote makes a difference!

Volunteers can make a difference, too, especially in this final week and on Election Day. Join us at a phone bank, at an early voting site to distribute literature, or for a text bank or a canvassing shift. Our volunteers are having really good conversations with voters. Help us increase our voter engagement in these final 8 days! 

Somebody's GOP-compulsive idea of a lean, mean state government left us nearly defenseless when real crisis came along. Meet the crisis's chief enabler, the Guv.

And shake your head about the way dark and not-so-dark money is distorting some of our most competitive Maryland races. News you can Use.

It’s here! The time we’ve been waiting for in Maryland, our first statewide election since 2018! It’s time to cast our votes and forge a strong ticket of progressive candidates who will run this November up and down the ballot. 

Your vote makes a difference! Please make a plan to either vote by mail, or in person at early voting sites July 7-14, or on Election Day on Tuesday July 19. Volunteers can make a difference, too, especially in the final two weeks. Join us at a phone bank, at an early voting site to distribute literature, for a text bank or a canvassing shift this week!

Join our growing election team! We’re knocking, calling and covering polling sites for Early Voting and Election Day. We need to reach another 10,000 voters and we can only do it with your help. 

Progressive Maryland’s Board of Directors, chapters, staff and leaders spent a number of months assessing the political landscape for 2022, surveying candidates and allies, and looking at the positions and the track records of candidates who filed to run.  We can’t weigh in on every race up and down the ballot but we do have several great recommendations for our members and supporters: see our endorsed candidates here.

We factored in how much the 2022 elections offer us an opportunity to increase the number of women and people of color representing us on the local and state level. We hope you will, too!

Both the Supreme Court and Congress went off for short or long breaks leaving rubble to clean up and victims to rescue. Here's news you can use from Maryland and national activists to remind us: preserving democracy and defending working families is a task never completed. What helps? Solidarity, working together to make life better for all of us even though our political environment sometimes makes us feel all alone. Get the scoop here.