Spy Nights: Conversations with Craig Fuller: Len Foxwell and Clayton Mitchell
The Spy and the Avalon Foundation will continue their Conversations with Craig Fuller series on with a timely look at Maryland and regional politics just days before the 2026 general election.
Joining Fuller will be Spy political commentators Len Foxwell and Clayton Mitchell, co-hosts of the Spy Newspapers’ weekly podcast Maryland Caucus with Foxwell and Mitchell. The two have spent the past year examining the personalities, policies, and political currents shaping Annapolis and the Eastern Shore.
The timing could hardly be better. Maryland voters go to the polls on November 3 to elect a governor and lieutenant governor, comptroller, attorney general, members of the General Assembly, members of Congress, and a long list of county and local officials. Early voting actually begins on October 22, the same day as this conversation.
The election also comes as Maryland faces major questions involving the state budget and economy, energy costs, housing, transportation, the future of the Chesapeake Bay, and the political relationship between Annapolis and the Eastern Shore. Congressional redistricting has also emerged as a significant political and legal issue heading into November.
Foxwell is the founder and principal of Tred Avon Strategies, an Annapolis and Eastern Shore communications and political consulting firm. He has spent more than 25 years in Maryland politics and government, including 12 years as chief of staff to Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot. He also teaches communications at Johns Hopkins University and is a graduate of Salisbury University.
Mitchell is a lifelong Eastern Shoreman, attorney, and former chairman of the Maryland Department of Labor’s Board of Appeals. His background in law, state government, and Eastern Shore politics gives him a particularly useful perspective on how decisions made in Annapolis affect communities on this side of the Bay. He and Foxwell bring different political perspectives to Maryland Caucus, but share an interest in looking beyond the daily political noise to explain how Maryland government and politics actually work.
Craig Fuller will guide the October 22 conversation, exploring what Foxwell and Mitchell are seeing in the final days of the campaign, what Maryland voters should be watching, and what the results could mean for the state and the Eastern Shore after Election Day.
Conversations with Craig Fuller is a continuing partnership between the Spy Newspapers and the Avalon Foundation designed to bring informed and civil conversations about public affairs to the Mid-Shore. Proceeds from the series help support the Spy’s nonprofit journalism and the Avalon’s public affairs programming.
