Andy Ellis, Candidate for Governor, Receives National Advocacy Award
For Immediate Release
March 24, 2025
Contact: Andy Ellis, andy@gogreen2026.com, (240) 285-0843
Andy Ellis, 2026 candidate for Governor of Maryland, received the Public Advocate of the Year Award from CEDA, the Cross Examination Debate Association. The award recognizes individuals who have made positive contributions to public discourse in the previous year. Past recipients of this award include television host Stephen Colbert, former Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala, and pollster Nate Silver.
Ellis and his co-recipient Dayvon Love received the award at the CEDA national debate championship tournament at Rutgers University-Newark. With Ellis as coach, Love and his teammate Deven Cooper won the CEDA National Championship for Towson University in 2008, the first time a team of Black debaters accomplished that feat. Love and Ellis were recognized for their recent leadership of Baltimore for Democracy, which helped lead to the defeat of Question H – City Council Size Reduction Charter Amendment – in the 2024 election.
Ellis debated competitively at Governor Thomas Johnson High School and Towson University, and coached and taught debate and advocacy at Towson as well as at universities in New York, Vermont, Wyoming and California.
"I am proud to have been recognized by CEDA for the Work and Dayvon and I did in building a public advocacy campaign in support of democracy," said Ellis. "My experiences as a debater and debate coach are a foundational part of who I am, and why I work to help everyone have the opportunity to speak out for what is important to them. As a candidate for Governor in 2026 I look forward to being on the debate stage sharing our solutions. Maryland voters deserve to hear from every candidate on the ballot."
Ellis and Love both served on the Baltimore Charter Commission and subsequently as part of the Baltimore for Democracy ballot question committee. The committee helped defeat Question H, which would have slashed the size of the Baltimore City Council. This was the first defeat of a Baltimore City charter amendment in over 20 years.
Ellis is seeking the Green Party's nomination for Governor in 2026. The Green Party primary election will be held in the summer of 2026. Ellis is currently holding community events throughout Maryland to speak to voters about the urgent need for Green leadership in Annapolis. The campaign has held events in Howard, Frederick, Anne Arundel and Allegany Counties, and is scheduled to hold an event this weekend in Prince George's County.
Contact: Andy Ellis, andy@gogreen2026.com, (240) 285-0843
More information: https://www.gogreen2026.com/
Petition to Maryland Public Television to Open the 2026 Gubernatorial Debate: https://www.gogreen2026.com/debate