As of Friday, there were no official candidates registered for the Prince George’s County executive race, for which the primary is Sept. 12.
Republican Chuck Floyd was the only politician officially seeking the same position in Montgomery County. And only two candidates — Green Party members Ed Boyd and James Joseph Madigan — have gone to Annapolis in person to declare their intention to run for governor and lieutenant governor.
Candidates have until July 3 to visit election board offices at the county or state level. Election officials said when a candidate files does not affect their position on the ballot or how much money they can raise for their campaign.
But officials couldn’t say for sure why some candidates chose to file early as early as July 2005 while others are waiting until the final weeks before the deadline.
“I have no idea,” said Harold Ruston, managerof election operations for Prince George’s County Board of Elections. “I have no explanation why people wait until the last minute.”
Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson has yet to officially register a re-election bid. Johnson said he didn’t want to split his focus between his job running the county and the task of running a re-election campaign.
“Sometime at the end of June, I’ll make an announcement and go forward,” Johnson said.
Rushern Baker has publicly declared his intention to run for the county executive seat in Prince George’s, but has not yet visited the county’s Board of Elections office in Upper Marlboro to officially register.
“Rushern is definitely a candidate for the county executive position — that’s not up for debate,” said Alex Krughoff, communications director for the Baker campaign. “He’ll go up and register at some point. There are other concerns aside from getting that done on his plate.”
Alec Stone is a Silver Spring Democrat running for a state delegate seat in District 19. He said he filed early in September, exactly a year before the primary, because he recognized the seriousness and commitment of running for public office.
“Running against the slate and running against the incumbent is not something you take lightly,” Stone said. “I felt that it was essential that I fill out the paperwork and start the campaign.”
