This is the first in a series of stories about what’s on the ballot for the 2020 General Election. This week we cover the presidential and vice presidential candidates.
While it’s true that the Donald Trump-Joe Biden race has been absorbing almost all of the oxygen in the presidential race, there are a number of other candidates on the 2020 Maryland General Election ballot this year that voters may want to consider.
Voters who have decided to vote on Election Day (Tuesday, November 3) or during Early Voting (Monday, October 26 through Monday, November 2) have some time to spare. On the other hand, voters who have requested, or plan to request, mail-in ballots, are strongly encouraged to return their completed ballots as soon as possible as a way of facilitating the work of both the County Board of Elections and the U.S. Post Office. Those residents may be able to cast their ballots within a few weeks.
Candidates for president and their running mates for vice president represent five parties that have filed to run in Maryland.
Donald J. Trump and Michael Pence are the candidates of the Republican Party. Prior to his election in 2016, Trump was a real estate businessman, builder and television personality. Pence is an attorney, who served as the 50th governor of Indiana from 2013 to 2017 and as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 2001 to 2013. (https://www.donaldjtrump.com)
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are the candidates of the Democratic Party. Most recently, Biden served as Vice President in the Obama administration from 2009 to 2017. He, too, is an attorney and served as a U.S. Senator from Delaware from 1973 to 2009. Harris has served as a U.S. Senator from California (2017-2020), Attorney General of California (2011-2017) and District Attorney of San Francisco (2004-2011). (https://joebiden.com)
Jo Jorgensen and Jeremy “Spike” Cohen are the nominees of the Libertarian Party. Jorgensen has held many positions in the party and was their nominee for vice president in 1996. She is an academic with a Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology. She said she decided to run this year to give the voters “a real choice because the non-choice between Trump and Biden is still an option between big government and more big government.” Cohen is described as an activist, entrepreneur and blogger. (https://jo20.com)
Howie Gresham Hawkins and Angela Walker are the nominees of the Green Party. Hawkins is a trade unionist and environmental activist. A retired teamster and construction worker, he is a cofounder of the Green Party of the U.S. His primary campaign issues include enacting an eco-socialist version of the Green New Deal and building a viable, independent working-class political and social movement in opposition to the Democratic and Republican parties and capitalism in general. Walker is a veteran working-class activist with decades of experience working for racial and economic justice in social movements and unions. (https://howiehawkins.us)
Jerome Segal and John de Graaf are the nominees of Bread and Roses, a new socialist political party founded by Segal in 2018. Segal has held a number of academic positions, including that of senior research scholar, Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland. De Graaf is an activist and documentary film maker. (https://www.segalforpresident.org) (https://www.breadandroses.us)