The Democratic Party is dominant in Maryland, holding all statewide elected offices, executives of every large jurisdiction and more than two-thirds of the seats in the state legislature.

That’s not enough.

The Maryland Democratic Party is launching a campaign Monday to field credible candidates to give Republicans competition in traditionally conservative areas.

Dubbed “Contest Every Seat,” the initiative aims to fill ballots across the state with Democratic candidates for the House of Delegates, state Senate, county councils and county commissions.

Steuart Pittman, the Anne Arundel County executive and chair of the state Democratic Party, sees opportunity in the actions of Republican-led leadership in Washington: increased tariffs, slashed health care subsidies, lost federal jobs. That’s hurting Marylanders in conservative areas as much as, or more than, in liberal areas, Pittman said.

“I think that there’s just a lot of shifting in people’s minds. People are going to start rethinking what their political home is,” Pittman said.

For too long, Pittman said, Democrats conceded that they would lose in deep-red areas of the state, often not even fielding candidates.

“This is an opportunity for the Democratic Party to increase its numbers and get everybody on the ballot so there is a choice for people,” he said.

Realistically, not all the Democrats will win or even have a great shot. But Pittman hopes the candidates in the reddest of regions will at least offer a choice and force Republicans to explain their positions. And, in areas that are more politically mixed, those Democrats could flip seats, Pittman said.

He pointed to his own election in 2018, when he knocked off incumbent Republican Steve Schuh in politically purple Anne Arundel County by almost five points. Four years earlier, Schuh had won the seat by a 22-point margin.

“Everybody’s goal is going to be different when they run,” Pittman said. “Some will truly believe they can win, and they will. Some might be on there just to hold the incumbent accountable, hold the Republican accountable and elevate issues that haven’t been elevated in their counties.”

The leader of the Maryland Republican Party is unimpressed with the effort, confident that the state will take a rightward shift in 2026.

“Democrats can field as many candidates as they want, but voters know they are responsible for Maryland’s record-breaking tax increases, huge structural deficit, and dire fiscal future,” Nicole Beus Harris, chair of the Republican Party, said in a statement. “We look forward to campaigning on these issues in every jurisdiction in Maryland.”

The Maryland Democratic Party is tapping party central committees in each county to find candidates. It is working with other Democrat-run initiatives such as Emerge Maryland (which trains women to run for office) and Run For Something.

Every other week, state party leaders get on a video call with county-level leaders to plot recruitment strategies and assess potential candidates.

There’s been enthusiasm in places such as St. Mary’s County in Southern Maryland, where President Donald Trump won in 2024 by 17 points and which is the home base of Maryland House Freedom Caucus Chair Del. Matt Morgan.

“Even in tough districts, showing up and listening to voters matters,” said Ann Marie Abell, chair of the party in St. Mary’s.

Once interested Democrats raise their hands to run, the party is helping them with finding a campaign manager and filling out the paperwork to run.

The party is also recruiting campaign managers and putting them through a training course.

On a recent Saturday morning, several dozen mostly young prospective campaign staffers gathered at Anne Arundel Community College to hear tips on developing campaign messaging and telling their candidate’s story to voters.

Joe Francaviglia, deputy director of the state Democratic Party, stood at the front of the room wearing a blue T-shirt with white lettering reading: “Keep Maryland Blue.”

Pictures of several campaign slogans filled a screen for the campaign manager hopefuls to assess. Included among the photos was one of Trump’s red “Make America Great Again” hats.

“Honestly,” Francaviglia conceded, “one of the greatest of all time.”

Candidates might have a brilliant policy platform, Francaviglia said, but if they can’t communicate it through a message and a slogan, they won’t win.

The group went through exercises of understanding message themes that may be used for and against their candidate, and talked about how polling can inform decisions but how candidates shouldn’t be beholden to horse-race polling.

Those in the training were a mix of people working for a campaign and others looking to be hired by a candidate. A second round of campaign manager school is being planned.

“We have had a shortage of good campaign managers, and we’re looking to fill the gaps,” Pittman said.

Pittman believes this is the first time the Democrats have started so early and gone so deep down the ballot in recruiting candidates. The effort has the backing of Gov. Wes Moore, who recommended Pittman lead the party.