High-stakes Prince George’s County Council at-large race draws eight Democrats

Eight Democrats are competing for two Prince George’s County Council at-large seats in a race that could help decide how countywide power is used in a government that serves nearly 500 square miles from Bowie to Oxon Hill.

The contest is drawing unusual attention because it features two sitting councilmembers, Jolene Ivey and Sydney Harrison, alongside six other Democrats. Ivey moved from the District 5 seat to the at-large post in a 2024 special election, while Harrison has represented District 9 for eight years. Both are now asking countywide voters to keep them in office, a step that shifts the campaign from neighborhood politics to a countywide test of governing style and priorities.

That matters in Prince George’s because the council controls zoning, development, tax policy, transportation priorities and a large share of the debate over where county resources go. An at-large member can influence decisions that affect residents well beyond one district, including redevelopment pressure, public safety spending and how well county services reach communities that often feel forgotten by the central government in Upper Marlboro.

The race also carries a larger institutional question: whether the at-large seats should remain part of the council at all. The county’s charter review process has floated a proposal to eliminate the two seats, with voters potentially seeing that question in 2026 and any change delayed until 2030. That gives this year’s campaign a rare double edge, because voters may be choosing who holds the seats while also deciding whether the seats should survive.

Prince George’s County Council has 11 members, nine district representatives and two at-large members, all serving four-year terms. County government materials say the county stretches across almost 500 square miles, and its scale helps explain why countywide races matter so much. A policy choice in one part of the county can ripple from one end of the jurisdiction to the other, especially in development-heavy corridors and fast-growing communities.

The at-large seats themselves are still relatively new. They were added in 2016, and the county has already seen turbulence around them. In December 2025, the council appointed Wala Blegay to fill an at-large vacancy after Calvin Hawkins left for a county administration job. A January 2026 lawsuit then challenged that appointment, underscoring how contested the seats have become even before voters cast ballots.

The Democratic primary is scheduled for June 23, 2026, and the outcome will help determine not just who holds countywide office, but whether Prince George’s keeps the at-large model that has become one of the county’s most consequential political battlegrounds.