A new Goucher poll shows that in the race for U.S. Senate from Maryland, Congressman ChrisVan Hollen is leading Republican Delegate Kathy Szeliga by 30 points – 54 percent to 24 percent.

Green Party candidate Margaret Flowers comes in at two percent.

Flowers is the only candidate in the race that favors single payer national health insurance and cutting back on the bloated military budget.

Both Van Hollen and Szeliga say that Flowers should be included in the only statewide televised debate on October 26 and in the other planned debates – including October 7 on WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi Show.

But the organizers of the October 26 debate – the University of Baltimore, the Baltimore Sun, WJZ-TV and the League of Women Voters – say Flowers will not be allowed on the debate stage because she does not meet one of the League’s criteria – 15 percent support in the polls.

Flowers says that the polling criteria are unreasonable and undemocratic.

“I have had to fight to be included in forums and have had very unequal coverage in the major media outlets,” Flowers said. “Our campaign does not take corporate or political action committee money, so we do not have the funds to pay for media.”

Ann Cotten, director of the Schaefer Center for Public Policy at the University of Baltimore, Mitch Friedman at WJZ-TV, Andy Green at the Baltimore Sun, Jay Parikh at Maryland Public Television and the Kojo Nnamdi Show did not return calls seeking comment for this story.