The Charles County Democratic Central Committee voted overwhelmingly Saturday to nominate Del. Kevin Harris (D-Charles and Prince George’s) for the Senate seat vacated this month by Michael Jackson, who is now the State Police superintendent.
Despite a 9-1 central committee vote and the backing of Jackson, however, Harris still has a ways to go before he can be considered the nominee. Because the 27th District includes parts of three counties, Calvert, Charles and Prince George’s, central committees in all three get to have their say. Charles was just the first.
Harris was one of three candidates who appeared during the nearly two-hour special public hearing, along with fellow District 27 Del. Jeffrie Long and lawyer Jason Fowler, who had ran unsuccessfully in the district before.
Harris represents District 27A, which covers parts of Prince George’s and Charles; Long represents District 27B, which includes Prince George’s and Calvert counties; Fowler ran in 27C, which is all Calvert and currently held by Republican Del. Mark Fisher.
Fowler’s experience in that part of the district was a key part of his argument to the central committee.
“The other two candidates that are here today in this process are first-term delegates. They have never faced general election opposition,” he said. “This district is too diverse, too competitive and too important to leave to somebody that is untested.”
Several of the 11 central committee members said the choice wasn’t easy among the three candidates, but the majority still chose Harris, who’s served in the House of Delegates since 2023.
The final vote was nine for Harris, with committee member Melissa Davis voting for Fowler and committee member Abena McCallister abstaining. Long did not receive a vote at this hearing.
“I’m hoping to see each of you be [future] candidates and be vocal members within our community in Southern Maryland to carry on the promises and ideas that you do have,” said committee member Dezmond Rosier. “Organizing and advocating doesn’t stop in office.”
Each candidate had a chance to address the committee and each was asked the same list of questions, while the other candidates were out of the room in what was a largely low-key meeting.
The candidates generally agreed on the need to support mass transit to connect the Southern Maryland district to Washington, D.C., and on working with those who may have differing viewpoints.
A few chuckles came after Hammad Martin, who manages a law firm in Charles County, spoke in support of Fowler and called him “the white Obama.”
Long, elected to the House of Delegates in November 2022, was the only one of the three to mention the Trump administration and its impact on the state’s financial situation.
“A lot of what we’re facing as a budget crisis is a direct result of President Trump and his adversarial administration,” Long said. “I do believe that once we see brighter days, which will come, we can reinvest into programming so vital to our communities.”
As for Harris, he was the only person to mention Gov. Wes Moore’s (D) mantra to “leave no one behind.” Moore is an Army veteran.
“In this case, we [are] leaving no counties behind. So, one team, one fight,” Harris, a Navy veteran, said before the committee voted.
Harris won the endorsement of the former senator, Jackson, who stepped down 10 days ago to become superintendent of the Maryland State Police. Jackson called Harris “a person of service” who will help all three counties in the district.
“I believe in folks who are of service. He shows that continually,” Jackson said.
After Harris was chosen, he thanked the committee, the other two candidates and those in the audience for attending.
“Without you all, we don’t have a community,” he said.
The Prince George’s Democratic Central Committee is scheduled to hold a public hearing Tuesday to select a candidate for the vacant Senate seat, followed by the Calvert County Democratic Central Committee next Saturday.
But the decision could be made before Calvert meets: According to an Oct. 21 letter from the Maryland Attorney General’s office, each central committee has one vote on the Senate nominee, so if Harris gets the backing of Prince George’s, the race would be over.
“If two [central committees] select candidate A and one selects candidate B, the name of candidate A is sent to the Governor,” the letter said, but if each settle on a different candidate, all three names go to the governor, who makes the choice.
Once a name, or names, are sent to the governor, he has up to 15 days to make the appointment.
The committees could be meeting again soon, depending on who is nominated. If Harris gets the nod, the Democratic committees in Charles and Prince George’s counties would have to meet to nominate someone to fill his District 27A in the House. Should Long win, central committees in Prince George’s and Calvert would meet to fill his seat.
The committees have a little less than two months to seat a delegation before the Jan. 14 start of the 2026 General Assembly.