Lexington Park Republican primary forum: candidates oppose large data centers, debate housing and school mental-health supports

At a League of Women Voters– and NAACP–sponsored Republican primary forum at Lexington Park Library, candidates for state and county office on June 1 said they oppose building large data centers in St. Mary's County and stressed housing affordability and school mental-health services as top issues ahead of the June primary.

Incumbent Delegate Doug Todd Morgan and challenger James McQueen, competing for House of Delegates District 29C, each opened with three-minute statements about experience and priorities. Morgan emphasized his record in Annapolis and described his campaign priorities as "affordability, energy and accountability," saying he has worked to bring state grants to local organizations. McQueen described long local family roots and service on planning and zoning boards and said he was running because he was unhappy with the current representation.

On mental-health services for students, Morgan said state policy and funding drive results and that counties often inherit costs; he framed the problem as requiring resources at the state level. "For mental-health reform to take place, it's gonna take money," Morgan said. McQueen said state-level cuts to disability funds have reduced services for children locally and urged sustained advocacy to restore those dollars.

Both candidates said housing affordability is a pressing problem. Morgan pointed to limited housing supply, infrastructure constraints (water, sewer), and rising interest rates as structural drivers and urged aligning development with a county comprehensive plan. McQueen said rising taxes and costs have made homebuying harder for young families and described his campaign as grassroots-focused.

Candidates also addressed surveillance and automated-plate-reading systems marketed by private vendors. Morgan noted recent state legislation that limits facial-recognition features and retention periods and described license-plate enforcement as a tool for traffic enforcement; McQueen criticized private vendors such as Flock for collecting wide-ranging location data and raised privacy concerns.

On campaign finance, McQueen said his campaign is largely family and friends and that he does not take outside PAC money; Morgan acknowledged he has accepted PAC contributions during a long involvement in politics.

Across multiple candidate panels for county commissioner president and district seats, data centers emerged as the most-common topic. Candidates from both the county- and state-level panels repeatedly said Saint Mary's County does not currently have the power capacity, suitable sites, or zoning to support large data-center projects and that the county should resist attempts to site them locally. One candidate said they would seek a resolution on their first day in office to oppose data-center construction within county boundaries. Candidates cited concerns about electric demand, water usage and local environmental impacts.

Other recurring themes in commissioner panels included school funding and per-pupil disparities, airport investment, public-safety funding and constituent access. Several county commissioner candidates pledged more frequent town-hall style meetings to solicit input in places across the county such as Lexington Park and Ridge.

Moderators reminded the audience of election logistics: early voting begins June 11 at three county sites, the primary election is June 23, and a printing error affecting some mailed ballots before May 14 prompted replacement mailings May 22–27 (voters with questions were directed to the Maryland State Board of Elections or the Saint Mary's County Board of Elections).

The forum, which included multiple panels through the evening, gave each candidate time for openings, answers to audience-submitted questions and two-minute closings. The primary is scheduled for June 23; candidates emphasized constituent outreach and said they would continue the debates and forums in coming days.