When I moved back to Baltimore in 2017, after many years in Atlanta, I discovered that I would have to register as a Democrat if I wanted my vote to count. That’s because Maryland is a Democratic-dominated state, and the primary elections, where Democrats compete to determine who will be the candidates, are vitally important for the final election. But as I checked Democrat for the party affiliation on my registration card, I wondered if I should have asked a shailah, because I was a Republican at heart. After researching this article, however, I realize that it’s okay. I registered as a Democrat in order to elect officials who will help our kehilla.
Rabbi Boruch Neuberger, Menahal of
Ner Israel Rabbinical College and Board Member of Agudath Israel of Maryland,
says, “The reason we have to vote in big numbers is because we need to vote for
people who have the ability to advance our community’s needs.” He adds, “The reality
is that we live in a ‘blue state.’ But we’re not waving blue or red flags or
voting for party platforms. We’re voting for the candidates who are willing to
support our chinuch and chesed organizations.” He stresses that
we are giving organizations like Agudah Maryland access to elected officials
who will be successful advocating for our community.
Rabbi Ariel Sadwin, Executive
Director Agudath Israel’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, is helping to
coordinate what he hopes will be the most successful effort ever to get members
of the community to register and show up to vote in the primary on June 23. “Shul
by shul, block by block, it’s a very significant effort,” says Rabbi Sadwin who
introduced this campaign at a meeting of the Vaad HaRabbanim on Monday, April
27.
The importance of getting out the
vote made sense when I heard the statistics. It seems only about 30% of voters
in our Baltimore community voted in the last Democrat primary election. When
there was a significant election in New Jersey, 69% of the community turned out.
Politicians study election results. They know how many voted in the various
sectors and base their political stances on those numbers.
Two years ago, Rabbi Sadwin also
encouraged the rabbanim to promote voting. “As citizens in a free
democracy, we have an obligation to participate in elections,” he says. At that
time, many rabbis spoke from the pulpit about the importance of voting and
oversaw captains in their congregations who encouraged others to vote. Some of
the rabbis found success and are doing the same this year.
Rabbi Dovid Heber of Congregation
Khal Ahavas Yisroel Tzemach Tzedek (KAYTT) plans to speak at the pulpit and
possibly have captains again. He shares that young people turning 18 before the
general election can already vote in the primary. And he encourages anyone 18
years and older living in Israel, including yeshiva and seminary students, to
register and to vote through mail-in ballots.
Rabbi Jonathan Seidemann of Congregation Kehilath B’nai
Torah says, “Voting in the primary is essential.” He states that it affects our
community on many levels, including funding issues for the BOOST program and
school transportation, as well as constituent services, such as navigating
government bureaucracy. “A Jew in galus has to do what he has to do to
survive,” says Rabbi Seidemann. “If you don’t vote in the primary, you don’t
have any say.”
Mr. Avi Lencz, Associate Director
Agudath Israel of Maryland, kindly emailed me the following information on
candidates in the 2026 gubernatorial primary election June 23:
Maryland’s current governor, Wes
Moore, is expected to win his party’s nomination by huge margins, while the
Republican field is a bit more crowded, but other races are far closer. In Baltimore
City’s District 41, the incumbent, State Senator Dalya Attar, is facing off
against Malcolm Ruff, who is currently a state delegate in Annapolis. District
41’s incumbent delegates, Sandy Rosenberg and Sean Stinnett face a number of challengers
looking to unseat them to represent the District in the House side of the Maryland
General Assembly.
In Baltimore County, the
legislative races appear less contested, as District 11’s current state senator,
Shelly Hettleman, is running unopposed, and both District 11B’s two sitting
delegates, Dana Stein and Jon Cardin, are running unopposed as well. In
Baltimore County, more attention will undoubtedly be directed to the race for county
executive, where several candidates, including Izzy Patoka, Julian Jones, and
Pat Young, all currently county councilmen, are seeking the office.
In addition, voters will be able
to choose candidates for their party’s State Central Committee. This committee
chooses replacements for sitting representatives if they leave their positions
in the middle of their term. While many people pay less attention to these
candidates, the truth is that many current politicians first entered elected
office through being nominated by the State Central Committee, so these races
have the potential to be quite impactful.
All the candidates for public
office in the upcoming Maryland election can be found on the website of the
Maryland State Board of Elections (elections.maryland.gov). One can register to
vote online or by mail and even at the polls on voting day. Citizens can easily
change party affiliation on their registration form through the Maryland State
Board of Elections’ website. As already mentioned, the primary election itself
will be on June 23, but the deadline to change one’s party affiliation is
Tuesday, June 2.
Sidebar
A Lifetime of Voting
by Ruby Katz
Like most Jews of their generation, my parents, a”h,
were staunch Democrats. I remember standing next to them in a crowd on
Reisterstown Road as President John F. Kennedy drove by in his motorcade.
Unlike the convertible motorcade in Dallas when he was shot, JFK was inside one
of the closed cars, so we never saw him, but I waved at his car anyway. After I
met President Lyndon Johnson on the Johns Hopkins Campus when he came to speak,
I attended rallies for LBJ’s campaign carrying a “Johnson for President” sign
and singing “Happy Days Are Here Again.” Although, at 20 years old, I knew
little about party platforms, my early connection to politics was exciting, and
I could hardly wait until I turned 21 so I could vote. As the years passed, the
Democratic party changed, and I changed in opposition to it, embracing the Republican
platform and values. But here in Baltimore, I am again a registered Democrat so
I can vote in the primaries.
I still get excited about the right
to vote and have personal feelings about who should win. Concerning this
upcoming election, Senator Dalya Attar has done so much for our kehilla.
She has obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars for our schools and chesed
groups and delivered hundreds of college scholarships for our students. Senator
Attar, because she is one of only 47 senators, compared to three times that
number of delegates when she served in the House of Delegates, is an essential
voice for us in Annapolis. She is being contested on the ballot, and we really
need her to win. Of course, Sandy Rosenberg and Sean Stinnett are steadfast
supporters of our community and deserve our vote.
In Baltimore County, Councilman
Izzy Patoka is running for Baltimore County executive. He recently participated
in a meeting at a local Islamic center, where the candidates were introduced to
an Islamic audience. The moderator brought up questions about boycotting
Israel, asking the candidates if they would let the IDF train the Baltimore
County police and – worst of all – asked if they would agree that Israel is
performing genocide in retaliation for Oct. 7th. Most of the candidates,
pandering to the audience, didn’t refute what was being said, and some even
stressed their opposition to Israel and its “genocide,” but Councilman Patoka wisely
stated, “What is conversation in this room, [the candidates] wouldn’t be saying
in another room.” [For a link to the video of this meeting, see this article
online at Wherewhatwhen.com (starting at hour two).]
Whoever you vote for, please
register Democratic by June 2 and vote on June 23.
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